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AT LAST! FIRST SCREENS AND INFO! METAL GEAR SOLID

AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A MYTH!

CASTLEVANIA

THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR?

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RIDGE RACER RETURNS!

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Dodgeball

Just one of seven games you can play |W online with My Street. à

My Street" is overrun with punks.Tearing up backyards with RC race cars. Dominating the beach with games of volleyball. And you've already seen what they do with dodgeballs. Create your own character and beat these bullies at their own game.Forget all about sportsmanship, and My Street could be all yours.

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OVER THROW HITLER'S EVIL EMPIRE.

You are B.J. Blazkowicz, a US Army Ranger recruited by the OSA and the Allies’ top specialist in covert operations, heavy weapons and assassination. Hitler's head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, is twisting science

and the occult into an army capable of annihilating the Allies. The balance of victory is in your hands.

RETER JO CHSTLE

erse forests, cities, Egyptian villages У Unleash a brutal arsenal of and crypts across over 30 levels authentic-and experimental weapons.

infiltrate top-secret airfields and compounds and silently assassinate Nazi officers.

ce complex enemies who. coordinate attacks and =: == anticipate your every move.

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PlayStation.

for Rating Information.

CONTENT RATED BY NINTENDO

GAMECUBE.

® & © 2003 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved. Climax and the Climax logo are trademarks of Climax Group. Eidos Interactive and the Eidos Interactive logo are registered 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 Nintendo

Ж | d the wheel of a souped-up MINI Cooper? шэн” Tear through subway stations, rip apart golf E /:4 courses, and plow through ОНИ ЦЕХ

4 you pull off the ultimate gold heist:

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A high-octane arcade racer Race through L.A. Master 4 modes from death-defying Bonus features including based on the blockbuster movie. driving 10 different vehicles. stunt driving to multiplayer madness. ^ movie footage, interviews, and more!

б M 4 қ S M 5 Гэм БЕ Г= 4 v, EIDOS .talianJobGame.com trademarks of Eidos Interactive, пс “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2001 Nintendo. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved s y

Strong Language Strong Lyrics

Su ive Themes Violence

PlayStation.2

Do something. Fight for money, power and respect in the

underground. The battle begins at defjamvendetta.com.

PlayStation |

MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

www.playstationmagazine.com

ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA’

SEE AND READ IT ALL HERE

We've got just about everything! We've got a killer issue for you this month, and I’m so pleased I’m just going to keep tooting our horn until you get bored of it. Not only do we have an exclusive review of Vivendi Universal's Hulk game (which is surprisingly good], but we've а Ё world of gaming to bring you exciting info on every huge game we сап find on PS2. You'll see big exclusives on some of these appearing in other magazines, but only Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine has them all іп one place. Gran Turismo 4? Got it. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater? Got that, too. R: Racing Evolution (the sequel to Ridge Racer V)? Yep...nailed it. Castlevania? We have that, too! If there's ever been a good time to feel good about being a PS2 gamer, this is it. The bar has definitely been raised, and the next wave of games looks set to blow everything else away. Just look at the graphics in the new Metal Gear. Oh. My. God.

You'll notice that something we don't have this month is a review of Enter the Matrix. Why? Apparently Atari didn't want to show anyone the game until the day the movie came out—and that happens after this issue goes to print. Look out for our review next month.

ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS

ROBERT ASHLEY

So you finally convinced your folks that getting a degree in game design is worth your time and their money, thanks to this month's feature. Well, you can thank Robert, a freelance editor in Washington D.C., who wrote the story for us.

scoured the

John Davison Editor-in-Chief

JOHN SCALZI

John writes the way most people breathe. By that we don’t mean he writes without thinking; just that he writes a lot. A whole damn lot. You can get all the info on all his current projects, plus read his almost-daily column at

LOIS H. GRESH AND SIMON WEINBERG

Gresh and Weinberg are the co-authors of the award-winning The Science of Superheroes, which investigates real science in superhero comics. They hooked us up with a column for this month’s feature.

PENNY ARCADE

These guys make comics that make us snort milk out of our noses. A new comic goes up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which makes the site worth visiting, at the very least, three times a week. Enjoy yourselves. Www.penny-arcade.com.

Videogames Have Ratings, Just Like Movies

ЕШШ EVERYONE

ADULTS ONLY le

CONTENT RATED BY

‘CONTENT RATED BY ESRB

CONTENT RATED BY The Entertainment Software ESRB

j 2 EARLY TEEN MATURE ADULTS ONLY Rating Board provides infor- ChiLonoon RATING RATING RATING mation about videogame RATING The E replaced Contains These games The extreme

Deemed the previous suggestive contain more of the ratings, content. ESRB ratings are аме KA rating themes; mild adult themes, | suitable intended as guidelines only; children 3 last year. or strong suchas blood for adults only.

itor or older. Suitable for language; and gore; Packs sexual parents should still monitor pias kids ages and animated stronger themes and minors’ purchases. carrying this 6 and up, violence. language; extreme

label have E-rated games Some parents and sexual violence. WWW.ESRB.ORG absolutely по may 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. Trated games. under 17 A0-rated game. by parents.

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (ISSN $11094-6683] is published monthly by Ziff Davis Media Inc., 28 East 28th Street, New York, МҮ 10016. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY 10016 and additional mailing offices. Single-iss issues and 12 demo discs] $49.97 U.S., $65.97 ай other countries. We periodically make lists of our customers available to mailers of goods and services. If you do not wish to receive such mailings, please write to us and in address changes to Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, P.O. Box 55362, Boulder, СО 80322-5362. For Subscription Service Inquiries call us at: 800.627.6458 U.S. and Canada, or (303) 604-7445 all other countries. Fax us: 850.683.1094 U.S. and Canada, о tries. Or visit our subscription website at http://service.playstationmagazine.com. The editors and publishers are not responsible for unsolicited materials. Without limiting the rights under copyrights reserved herein, no pa

duced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means [electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise] without the prior written notice of Ziff Davis Media Inc. Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media. All Rights Rese without permission is prohibited. For permission to reuse material in this publication or on waw.playstationmagazine.com, or to use our logo, contact Ziff Davis Media's Rights and Permissions Manager: Olga Gonopolsky, Ziff Davis Media Inc., 28 E. Tel; 212-503-5438. Fax: 212 503-5420. E-mail: olga_gonopolsky@ziffdavis.com. For reprints, contact Reprint Management Services (ЕМ) at |800) 290-5460 or (717) 399-1900, or on the Web at www.reprintbuyer.com. TM & © for all other in are owned by the respective trademark and copyright holders. All materials in this magazine are subject to change and the publisher assumes no responsibility for such changes. The Canadian GST registration number is 14049 6720 RT

T e 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 Steve Almanzi, Robert Ashley, Ethan Einhom, Lois H. Gresh, Ravi Hiranand, Nich Maragos, John Scalzi, Dave Smith, Simon Weinberg Japanese Correspondent Yutaka Ohbuchi European Correspondent Axel Strohm

DESIGN Senior Art Director Bob Conlon

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Illustrations асе, Crystal McNair, Mike Reisel, Greg White

COPY DESK

Copy Chief Kristen Salvatore Copy Editors Tom Edwards, Greg Ford

PRODUCTION Manufacturing Director Carlos Lugo

Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel Production Manager Monica Brent

Assistant Production Manager Teresa Newson

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7D GAME GROUP

Senior Vice President Dale Strang Editorial Director John Davison Geative Director Simon Cox Business Director Cathy Вепдой

CIRCULATION Group Circulation Director Tracy Schultz

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Senior Newsstand Sales Manager Don Galen Internet and Partnership Marketing Dir. Chris Wilkes

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te: $8.99. Subscription Ra! ру of your mailing label. P.

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е or in part 28th Street, New York, NY 10016. а contained there-

lucts and the с ers Printed in the USA.

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Play

MAGAZINE

EARN YOUR CRED ON THE COURTS OF NBA STREET VOL. 2 Not only do you get to play the fantastic NBA Street Vol. 2, you also have a chance to take an early look at the first Syphon Filter game to hit the PS2, in a tantalizing video. And that's just

d

p ——

ON THIS MONTH'S the start of it. Check out these OPM 70, Hfought to you ТИЧАНЕРЭ2 010) challenges for the rest of the ? E 2: james on the disc. 41 “unbridled rage.” Ed ы Lm М NBA Street Vol. 2 Dynasty Warriors 4 NBA STREET VOL. 2 Freaky Flyers

Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Finding Nemo

Gladius

Hunter: The Reckoning Wayward

Downhill Domination Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring

‘Shaun Murray Gungrave WWE SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth MLB 2004

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus Star Wars Clone Wars

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 Terminator: Dawn of Fate

THE DETAILS: No surprises here—it's a reprise of the 2002 World

HAVE YOU TRIED... ing L1 while pitching? It'll show your pitcher's fatigue level and also a somewhat more detailed

“Let me guess: This isn’t your first Botox injection.”

DISC PROBLEMS?

Did you buy a copy of our magazine that did not contain a demo CD? Simply send the receipt in an envelope marked OPM Replacement Dic" to the address below with the name and address of the store plus your phone number and address and неді send you the disc. Make sure you specify lich month the corresponding disc belongs to in order to ensure you get the right one,

Also, if you have a malfunctioning or non-working demo disc, call SCEA at 1-800-345-SONY. They wil provide instructions to obtain repair or replacement services.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) warrants to the original purchaser of the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine that the demo disc included is free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase. SCEA agrees for a period f ninety (90) days to either repair or replace, at ils

Minority Report Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Dev 101: Game Design and

Development Schools

On Tour at ABCD CampTeaneck On Tour at The Big Time On Tour at USA Cup

Demo Disc Producers Gary Barth, Manuel Sousa, Jerome Strach, Chris Tan

Marketing Team Kim Yuen, Chris Hagedorn, Steve Williams

Executive Producers Andrew House, Marilyn Weyant

Format Q&A Sam Bradley, DeMarlo King ‘Account Coordinator Eric Ippolito

Lead Programmers William Bohan, Ron Midthun, Avery Lodato

3D Artists Jason Robinson, Philip Williamson, David Hayes

Producer Jessi Harrison

President Katherine Williams

Technical Director Tim Edwards

‘Tom Gillan, Gerald Martin, jim Williams, Michelle Manahan, Christine DeNezza

‘option, the SCEA product. You must cal 1-800-345-SONY to receive instructions to obtain repairreplacement ser- vices,

This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if the defect in the SCEA product has arisen tough abuse, unreasonable use, mistreatment, neglect, or breakage during shipment, THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES AND NO OTHER REPRESENTA- TIONS OR CLAIMS OF ANY NATURE SHALL BE BINDING ON OR OBLIGATE SCEA. ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES APPLICABLE TO THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD DESCRIBED ABOVE. IN NO EVENT WILL SCEA BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM POSSESSION, USE, OR

MALFUNCTION OF THE SCEA SOFTWARE PRODUCT. Some states donot allow limitations as to how long an implied warranty lasts and/or exclusions or Limitations of consequential damages, so the above limitations andor exclusions of liability may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from state to state,

ОРМ Demo Disc is published monthly by Sony Computer Entertainment America пс, 919 E. Hillsdale Drive, Foster City, CA 94404. AU titles shown herein are trademarks of and copyrights of their respective publishers and/or their licensors. See individuat screens for details. ©2002 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Please submit all related demo disc inquiries to: OPM Demo Disc, Inquiries, 919 E. Hillsdale Drive, Foster City, салу

Series, Giants and Angels at Edison Field, with three innings to play. You too can now experience this season's least inter- esting baseball game.

THE DETAILS:

Two levels here: Coyote Canyon is a basic kart- style racing level, but in Bandito Attack you have to protect your fort from, well, attacks by little creatures called (give up?] Banditos.

profile of the batter.

-..Clearing the bench? You can't, but it sure is fun to hit batters.

Itentionally flubbing an infield fly? Just let the ball drop—don't worry, the runner won't go any- where. You can check out the great dive animations.

NASTY WARRIORS 4

HAVE YOU TRIED...

...hunting down all the Banditos? Don't even try to take out more than one Bandito fort at a time—do one, then come right back, because your fort will no doubt be damaged already.

„hunting down the song “Banditos” by the Refreshments? They did the King of the Hill theme song. The album with that song on it is called Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy. You should buy it.

MB RAIDER: NGEL OF DARKNESS

—— С тм

UNLEASH THE FURY

Following the events of the blockbuster Universal Pictures film, troubled scientist Dr. Bruce Banner and his enraged alter ego, , battle The Leader a terrifying villain intent on unleashing a relentless army of gamma creatures on the world. Unravel The Leaders evil plan by using the brains of Banner, and unleashing the ultimate power and

destruction of The Hulk.

Le"

РРЦ

2...

? ums F 45 devastating attacks to 25 fully destructible and Battle notorious classic Outsmart your enemies as dispose of your enemies. interactive environments - villains and massive new Dr. Bruce Banner, using if you can see it, you can foes. Fight up to 10 stealth and disguise.

smash it. enemies at once.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK’ and "THE HULK" interactive by Universal Interactive, Inc. "THE HULK" Movie Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. ТМ. 49,

's and are used under li

мал

Fe THE MOVIE IN

THEATERS 06.20.03

UNIVERSAL UNIVERSAL е: 1

PlayStation.e MARVEL

Violence

3 Universal Int dios. Ай r

ive. Inc. Marvel, "THE INCREDIBLE HULK’ and all rel reserved. Vivendi Universal Games and the Vivendi Uni

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2003 М f Vivendi Univ ft. Xbox, and Xb

е Boy nse from Microsoft. All rights reserved. The ratings icon is a regist

The number of unique

nicknames you can earn in NBA Street Vol. 2.

Find out what everyone's talking about!

We're right there with you in terms of SOCOM 2 enthusiasm. “I was literally jumping off the walls when I saw the cover,” said David Motta. Cryp, from the OPM message boards stated it more sim- ply, “It looks insane.” And there's Mister_Mosquito who believes, "SOCOM 2 looks like the best online

game to come out since the original SOCOM.”

On page 124 of issue 69, you gave the online aspect of Midnight Club Il a one-star rating, yet above it you said, “Nothing beats the eight player action offered online.” | was just wondering if you meant for this to happen, or if it is a misprint. Rconn14@aol.com

So we messed up. We have been playing Midnight Club ІІ online quite a bit (evidenced by page 113). So, we should've given it at least a four. We call that a typo.

| was looking at an article on the internet about Xbox 2. It said that PlayStation 3's central processing unit was nothing but a PS1 and PS2 chip combined into one, and the article gave Xbox 2 nothing but compliments. Now, if you knew me, you would know that | love PS2 and despise Xbox, so | thought this information was crap. Based on what you guys at OPM have been saying for the past few months, PS3 is going to be a very powerful system due to cell tech- nology and the like. My question isn't which system | should buy in the future, because І already know PS3 is the way to go. My question is, what system do you guys think will be better overall? Do you think Р53 will dominate in sales just like PS2 has?

John Grandits

m grandits(dyahoo.com

Where do people come up with this stuff? In 2006, when the two systems are released, we'll know details. Until then, does it make

CONTACT OPM Snail Mail OPM 101 Second Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105

Email | opm @ziffdavis.com and check us out at www.playstationmagazine.com

Fax If you need to reach us now 415.5478777

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

sense that Sony wouldn't push its technology? If you think it won't, then you're dim.

Is there a death penalty in Japan? If so, Square Enix must be execut- ed immediately for the brutal murder of Final Fantasy. With FFX- 2, Square Enix has rendered the beloved series into nothing more than a plastic and silicone shell of its formerly glorious self. That's all we need. Was the lowest com- mon denominator still too high? Why not throw in some cockfights and mud wrestling while it's at it? | like to think that | recognize the fallibility of humans, and | have found it in my heart to forgive Square for the abominations of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and FFX, (why it got five stars, I'll never know}, but making a sequel to its worst game [why not the masterpieces FFVII or FFIX? Why?!) and then reducing its taste level to that of a Baywatch rerun is inhuman. If RPG's were a religion, Square Enix would be strapped to a table, waiting to get intimate with a swinging metal blade. Kotetsu369(daol.com

Umm, hardcore often equals dork. In your case, especially so! Don't sweat the future of FF games. They'll rock everyone's world but yours. Since you're so above getting your world rocked.

Please, please tell me that the Chicago Bears home stadium in Madden 2004 is going to be at Soldier Field instead of at the poor excuse for a football stadium they used last year [at University of Illinois]. The real Bears will play its first game at the newly renovated, state-of-the-art Soldier Field the third game of the season against the Green Bay Packers. When |

went to the official Madden 2004 website to get a glimpse at what some of the newly drafted NFL players will look like in the game, it looked like the Bears were not at Soldier Field, so | started to panic.

Wade Hertsel tait0072000(@yahoo.com

Well, stop panicking. It’s Madden, Wade. Has it ever missed a detail? Last year it put the Bears in the University of Illinois stadi- um. Why wouldn't it switch back? As a Bears fan, your bigger con- cern is Kordell’s interception-to- completion ratio.

a

[PlayStation® 72)

SQUARE сму

SWEET GRAPHICS FOR YOUR BITTER рь

E PlayStation.

SURROUND

1 ІМ Р % i Everyone's talking. Listen in—with your eyes!

ee

YOU WAKE UP AT... Speaking of badasses,

there may have been a bigger badass than Fight Clubs

N Tyler Durden, but there was never a cooler badass. =

Last week, | was sitting on my butt, watching MTV. It was another lame show about real people doing really boring crap. Then, all of a sudden, | saw the March edition of OPM flash on the screen during the promo for the next scene! That's when | noticed that this reality program starred Def Jam: Vendetta star Method Man with his very own mug on the cover!

| was inspired! | decid- ed to write you this letter with a photo of myself reading this letter, and hopefully I'll be reading а copy of OPM with a picture of myself reading the letter that | wrote! Whoa! Brain overload! Nick Perillo address withheld

Your wish, Nick, is our command.

Since | beat GTA: Vice City, l'm waiting every day for OPM to show GTA4 [I think it's Sin City) on the cover. When's the news going to come out about it. And, please, don't tell me it's on Xbox or Gamecube! Dylan Davis

address withheld

We're going to have to address this, and just so Dylan isn't disappointed, we'll tell you what we know and what we think. What we know is that GTA4 will be on PS2 only. The exclusivity deal is Still good for two more years.

As for what we think, we think the game will not be in Sin City/Las Vegas.

Reason being: The landscape really isn't interesting. For our dime, we're guessing it'll be а 705 San Francisco setup because the Bay Area's geography is more than ideal. The hills of San Francisco would make for some killer car chases! Then again, we could be wrong.

Are there any other games coming out that will be using the SOCOM headset? | think all online games should allow the use of it (Resident Evil Online would rock if you could use itl).

Also, can you make the game reviews in the Reviews section longer? It would be a huge help

for choosing games if you did. slayer103 G hotmail.com

The headset will have more uses soon. Lots of games are going to have voice chat (Madden, for one]. So clean the wax off the ear hole, will ya? As for the length of our reviews, we give and we give and still you want more. Well, forget it. How do you like them apples? Instead, to curry your favor, we'll make them better. For you.

In the May 2003 issue of OPM (Issue 68), 1 found conflicting letters written by loyal readers. The first involved Christy Miller who was complaining about the overwhelming amount of "hot chicks" in the magazine. She said she felt "bombarded" by the pictures. Later on, | read the letter of a male reader who was claiming how cartoon women, or the female characters in games, were hot. | came to a realization. These pictures of "hot chicks" are not as abun- dant as Christy would like us to believe. If, in fact, there have been an overwhelming number of these pictures, | don't believe that the male readers would focus their attention on the fictional females. Rather, they would most likely speak about the nonfictional chicks. I claim that there must be a lack of pic- tures of hot women in the magazine. The only way to rectify this huge mistake would be to double or triple the pictures of women. It is a necessity to supply the / male readers with a healthy dose of hot chicks. This way, rather than giving too much attention to women they will never have because they are computer creations, the male readers can focus on women who they will practically never have, such as celebrities. | thank you in advance for remedying this situation. Christopher Johnson Naperville, IL

Sometimes we make up our minds about things, and then someone changes them. Christopher, you, our | new friend, are a win- тег with a slick pen.

QUICK HITS

SCARY MOVIE I remember hearing something about a Fatal Frame movie in the works. Is it still being made or has it been cancelled? Beccabear51088 fdaol.com

Google "Fatal Frame movie" for updates It's coming. Just not for a long while.

SOCOM OFFLINE If SOCOM were an offline-only game, would you still give it a perfect score? Angela Kettle angela.kettle (dnf.sympatico.ca

Honestly, it wouldn't have scored higher than a four. Online is where it’s at!

WE LOVE YORDA I just can't wait until Ico 2 comes out. So, could you do те а favor and tell me how long I "can't wait" until Ico 2 comes out? DeusexsMachina @aol.com

We're guessing here, but our guess

is all edumacated like: Look for it in early 2004.

SAM VS. SNAKE I have one point to bring into the Sam Fisher vs. Solid Snake debate. Obviously, Sam wins since he has one advanced tactic that the NSA taught him. It's something so secretive and advanced that it must be beyond Fox Hound’s training and Snake’s per- sonal abilities...he can jump. Todd Weltz todd.weltz(d sheridanc.on.ca

Ouch. Good one.

As | was reading a letter on badass game charac- ters in the May issue of OPM, | thought to myself, there must be a badasser [is that even a word?) character than some hot chick from Xenosaga.

For a while, | thought about all the great ones | have played as. | came up with a few—Solid Snake, Sam Fisher, Tommy Vercetti, Lara Croft—but all fell short of the most badass character of any recent videogame, Agent 47, the star of Hitman: Codename 47 and Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. He is, in my opin- ion, the badassest (again, is that a word?) character ever. Who else can strangle a postman, steal his costume (complete with flowers], infiltrate a mafia compound, and blast the kingpin with a well-placed shotgun round? None. And you've got to love the bald head, the bar code on his neck, and the slick duds. He has the perfect look for a badass, but he's still civilized. If you ask me, 47 could be the biggest badass in game history. Jonathan CW logik23(dhotmail.com

We've rethought this, and we think someone (and we're not saying who— Jonathan!) seems to have forgotten about both Cookie and Cream. Shame on you for forgetting those two PS2 tyrants!

I'm a big anime fan. | love Rurouni Kenshin, Trigun, Neon Genesis, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bubblegum Crisis, and Cowboy Bebop. Has anyone made games of these? AL

SuperMario45M@aol.com

You want the long answer from our anime guy? Done. 1) They made a Rurouni Kenshin game for PS1, a 3D fighter. It was really bad. 2) They made a Cowboy Bebop game for PS1, a 3D shooter. It was really bad. 3) There were 8-bit Bubblegum Crisis games for NES and PC-Engine. Those were really, really bad. 4) There was a Neon Genesis Evangelion game for Nintendo 64, which was nothing short of god-awful, as well as some Japanese PC games based on the series, which were horrifically poor. Also, they're bringing out the Rei Ayanami Princess Maker knockoff for PS2 in a little while, but you don't want to touch that with a 10-foot pole. 5) Treasure made a Yu Yu Hakusho game for Mega Drive in Japan, which was brilliant in its time. You'll never get to play it, though. 6) Red Entertainment and Sega have a Trigun game in the works for an unspecified con- sole—it was announced at Game Jam last year. To be honest, the odds aren't good.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Play as young knight, Seig Warheit, who must face off against an old friend in this gothic action adventure. To fight, summon and command seven different warrior legions each with their own signature weaponry. Chaos Legion...a graphic masterpiece and savage gothic opera

played out over 13 levels of real time, cut-throat action!

“If you loved Devil May Cry,

you'll love Chaos Legion!" PSAT

CAPCOM PlayStation.e capcom.com

£GION is а trademark of. rk of the Interactive Digital Soltware Association.

You write in with your blabbity, blabbity blah, and we respond.

www.hotornot.com

Its a shameful site where others rate (on a curve) how attractive you are. We did it in OPM awhile back and C-Bake scored a pretty hot 8.

Exclusively Lesser

| was wondering how come every time a company makes a game that is supposed to be an Xbox- only game, it comes out on PS2 and has more features than the original Xbox version.

Sandra Antzak sandy23008(asbcglobal.net

Ahh, you've deciphered the great hoax of exclusivity. Basically, teams making games need to make the game saleable all over again. So they add in new goods. A bonus for us!

A Game With Substance Ten Ways to Know If You Have Metal Gear Fever

1] You sneak around school hold- ing your hand to your ear like you're receiving a codec call.

21 You can imitate the ruggedness of Snake's voice.

3) You know the real name of the actors voicing the characters.

4] You have dreams at night about Rose.

5] You spend hours comparing Rose to your girlfriend.

6) Your girlfriend dumps you because you spend more time playing Metal Gear Solid 2 than you spend with her [not to mention the Rose comparisons].

7) You have read the "previous story" sections in Metal Gear Solid 2 more than three times.

8) You leave your PS2 running with MGS2 already in it so you can play as soon as you want.

9) Instead of listening to normal music, you spend all of your time decoding the main MGS2 theme to

Official 05, PlayStation Magazine

MIDI format. 10] You spend three-plus hours on MGS2 a day.

These are all symptoms | have. The only cure in my mind will be the next Metal Gear game.

Tyler С. tylerc161(ahotmail.com

Can we, maybe, appease you with shots of Snake Eater (forgive the title, for they have sinned], on page 56 of Previews?

Unaverted Crisis

| have a huge problem! | love the Dino Crisis series and have played the first two on my PlayStation (now Р52) a lot. Then, | heard that the third will be on Xbox, and Xbox only! My heart shattered into little bitty bits! Oh, OPM, please say it is only exclusive for a little bit! Or maybe another will come out soon?

George Graham ShakespeareG(àmsn.com

Your heart, it seems, will remain shattered. Dino Crisis is staying Xbox only. But hey, we did get Grand Theft Auto exclusivity. A trade we'll definitely take.

Two For Kri?

| wonder if The Mark of Kri will come out with a sequel? The end throws out a little hint that another one might come out. If that is the case, it could make room for the little sister to jump іп the fight to protect her mark. What do you think? Is there a sequel in the works? | think the last game was good, so with a little more work, the sequel could be great!

Carlos "Beto" Mendez mendez603(@yahoo.com

You've asked the question on the tip of every gamer's tongue! But...no. It sold like crap. You should've bought more copies.

| have been a great fan of your magazine for a while and my friend thinks that you make up the letters that you print in OPM. | don't think that at all. But | want to prove to my friend that you are not like that. So could you show him that you really get these letters by printing this? You can settle a long fight between us two. Marcus Toji skip to ту lou 434308: hotmail.com

Ask your friend this: If he had the choice between writing fake let- ters or playing an unlimited number of PS2 games, what would he do? Exactly.

Ice cream. You and I. Say yes, or say you can't, but don't say no.

GOTHAM

GAMES

THE GREAT ESCAPE Interactive Game (certain audiovisual components) TM & © 2003 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc, THE GREAT ESCAPE Motion Picture 1963 Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Studios inc, THE GREAT ESCAPE Interactive Game (software) 53 2003 SCi Games Limited, developed by Pivotal Games Limited. Steve McQueen TM Licensed by Chadwick McQueen and The Terry McQueen Testamentary Trust Represented by The Roger Richmond Agency, Inc. "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 TUS and/or other countries. The ratings icon s a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association, Gotham Games and the Gotham Games logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 2003 Take-Two Interactive, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

News, views, opinion, wit, and wisdom.

SPIN

INSIDE SPIN

26 28 32 40

r guide to everything PlayStation

Day Planner Every day, in every way, | will become a better gamer. Every day, in every way ...

Mastermind The man behind Marble Madness has helped make millions of gamers happy.

Class in Session Go to school. Study hard. Get a degree. Make videogames for a living.

Bond Is Back

The world's greatest secret agent returns with a whole new bag of tricks.

Rock the Cradle

Lara’s game may be a temporary bust, but the new movie is shaping up just fine.

Summer Lovin’

A dozen top rental picks to get you through those dog days of summer.

DVD Reviews

Because your PS2 plays more than just games. Plus: anime coverage!

YES.

Б” ..this is a screen shot.

We didn't believe it at first either.

URISMO 4

SCEA says it's the "drive of your life." They're not kidding

PHOTOREALISM?

Not quite, but very nearly! The backgrounds use real photos and the car models now reflect both light

bo we B rei the over cas onthe wack, dine

to the realism.

e knew Gran Turismo 4 would be unveiled at this

year's E3, but we were hardly prepared for the

degree to which it’s been improved over the previ- ous games. Every facet of the technology has been over- hauled, with new handling physics, car models, tracks, and artificial intelligence (no more stupid computer cars ramming you from behind!) rounding out what was almost certainly the PS2 "game of the show."

SCEA rolled out new information during a series of events, revealing new pieces of information that whipped gamers (and OPM editors] into a frenzy of anticipation. Playable code on the show floor revealed some obvious details about the game [namely that it looks absolutely goi-geous), but many of the specific details are still some- what secret. A session with series creator and Polyphony

Digital President Kazunori Yamauchi revealed that many aspects of the game are still und ' subject to change due to licensing адр Still, what has been revea about. More than 500 cars wij modern and classic historica asphalt lunacy. The version from a Honda NSX-R racing Surprises came in the shape| SSR pickup, a classic Chevel Why you'd want to race a Vibl goes some way toward repre| team is going for with this g Another impressive stat 1 will be on offer. You'll have t

Courses across a variety of modes, and early versions shown at E3 ably demonstrated the incredible use of photorealistic textures that make things look super-real.

Мун оны Anand белмен =

STRAIGHT FROM E3

Ken Kutaragi shows off the UMD Its the new disc format for the Sony PSP Also pictured: FFXI (middle, top), Rise to Honor, and Cedric the Entertainer kicking Tiger Woods’ ass.

| WANT MY P

S

At E3, Sony unveiled a new portable system. Then it stole Nintendo's lunch

ony's E3 press conference is

always a spectacle, with major

announcements and special celebrity guest appearances. This year was no exception—check out these highlights.

A NEW PORTABLE PLATFORM!

Ken Kutaragi, "father of the PlayStation," introduced his "new baby." Called PSP (for PlayStation Portable], the platform will be Sony's direct attack on Nintendo's GameBoy Advance—and a whole lot more. Not only will it feature a 32-bit engine to display better- looking games than the GBA can deliver,

but it will also host a collection of technical gadgetry that makes it an all-in-one portable entertainment platform. "This is the Walkman of the 21st century,"

claimed Kutaragi.

data (roughly three times that of a CD-ROM). The PSP also sports a USB 2.0 port to con- nect to a variety of devices (including PCs and the Р52), and a port for saving data onto Sony Memory Sticks.

The PSP's display will be a backlit 480x272-pixel widescreen LCD. The system will use a rechargeable battery as its power source. PSP will also support MPEG4-encod- ed video, possibly allowing for full-length DVD-quality movies to be displayed. The PSP. is slated to hit the market before the end of 2004, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the PlayStation.

EA GOES ONLINE ONLY ON PS2

If you want to play your EA Sports games online, you have to own a PS2. Electronic Arts announced that it would feature its

“This is a new baby to the PlayStation brand. And he is very cute.” -ken Kutaragi, talking about PSP

The PSP will use a new high-capacity opti-

cal disc known as the Universal Media Disc (UMD). These proprietary 60mm discs—half the diameter of a DVD—hold up to 1.8GB of

sports games online exclusively for the PS2, including FIFA Soccer 2004, Madden NFL 2004, NASCAR Thunder 2004, NBA Live 2004, and NCAA Football 2004.

The highlight of EA's demonstration came

when Tiger Woods (in Florida] faced off against Cedric the Entertainer (live onstage at the Sony briefing] in an online match of Tiger Woods 2004. Much to the delight of everyone, Cedric beat Tiger. Tiger then hailed him as "the man."

EYETOY FOR THE U.S. Much to our surprise (and everyone else's], SCEA announced that the EyeToy is on its way to the States! The peripheral,

which we featured on page 31, was previously

announced for the European market only, but now we'll be able to join in on the wacky fun.

HARD DRIVE AND FINAL FANTASY XI...FINALLY

It's official: Final Fantasy ХІ and the PS2 hard drive will be released in the first quarter of 2004. SCEA revealed that it will publish the game in the United States, possibly allowing for a bundle of the game with the hard drive.

GTA STAYS EXCLUSIVE

Though we have no idea when the game will

hit, the next Grand Theft Auto will be found exclusively on the PS2. And that's reason to be very happy indeed.

JET LI KICKS А55

One of Sony's coolest presen- tations was Rise to Honor, the action game starring Jet Li. Showing off the title's highly

touted 360-degree fighting

engine, the virtual Jet frantically took on hoards of enemies surrounding him.

ONLINE, OUT OF THE BOX

In a move that will have taken effect by the time you read this, Sony revealed a new PS2 hardware package to debut in June. The PS2 will now come with the Network Adaptor, making the PS2 online compatible out of the box. Additionally, the PS2 hardware has been reconfigured, and will now offer progressive- scan DVD playback, an IR port for the remote control, a fan that's 30 percent quieter, and more. The new Р52 will retail for exactly the same price as the previous one: $200. Because of this, prices on the remaining older systems have fallen to the $170 range.

Tony Hawk Goes Underground

Activision has revealed the next Tony Hawk! Breaking the mold of its landmark skating series, Tony Hawk's Underground now lets

you play as yourself by downloading a digi-

tal photo of your face and mapping it опїо а custom-created character. The familiar pros are still there, but they're supporting characters whereas you're the star. The kicker, though? In a move likely inspired by

the GTA series, you can now explore mas- sive areas—and not just on a board. Run down alleys, go hand-over-hand along ledges, and even drive a car.

DYNRSTY WRRRIORS 4

Under the hard difficulty play the Hu Lao Gate level on the Allied Forces side. You must have a level 9 Star Pike. Defeat Lu Bu to get the weapon. You can get this weapon in Free Mode.

At the Yellow Turban Fortress, as the Allied Forces under the hard difficulty setting, kill the following in this order: He Yi, Pei Yaun Shao, and Chen Yaunzhi. You must complete killing them in under six minutes. The weapon will have 454 attack power and at Level 9.

DARE TO LOG

Play the Sun Jian Invasion Battle Level on Yuan 5һао% side. Before the enemy backup troops arrive, enter the castle from the top. A supply team will appear to the south of the castle. If you defeat the Supply Captain of the Supply Team, you will get the Charge Bracer.

BUTTERFINGER.COM

DEF JRM: VENDETTR

Three parts brawler and one part hip-hop video, Def Jam: Vendetta is clearly one of the most unique wrestling games available. Here, you've got a wrestler that puts gameplay before pageantry, offers action in place of entrance videos, and prizes super-sized special moves over the all-flair-but- no-pain People's Elbow. Plus, there's a story. And while the story isn't Pulitzer-worthy, it'll keep you battling through to the finale. The action starts with you picking a hero who's returning to his old stomping ground to help out an old friend who owes a dangerous man some money. His life's іп danger, and since your old pal can't fight, you're drawn into an underground fight-club atmosphere ruled by money, power, gold chains, and cornrows. While the machismo gets laid on thick, it all works together here. After all, this game's backed by a rap label. The Def Jam crew members are the villains, with each artist acting as a boss. As you climb the ranks in Story mode and struggle to get the girl (well, girls— there's more than опе), you'll earn cash, which you сап use to buy attribute upgrades. There's all kinds of other stuff to unlock, too: new fighters (39 in all), stages, and even swank Phat farm threads, in case your wardrobe is low on powder blue track suits.

TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER’ 4

Enter the options menu, then select “Cheats.” Enter watch_me_xplode to unlock all cheats.

Enter the options menu, then select “Cheats.” Enter homielist to unlock Mike Vallely and other secret skaters.

[Nestlé and Butterfinger aro trademarks at Nestlé. Def Jam: Vendetta is published by Electronic Ars, Inc.

©2008 Electronic Arts, Inc. Def Jam and Def Jam VENDETTA and all associated logos and marks are used under license from DJR Holdings, LLG and The Island Def Jam Music Group, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc Phat Farm is tho property of Phat Fashions, LLC and is used under license. Dynasty Warriors is a trademark о! KOEI Со, Ltd. ©2003 KOEI Со; Ltd, All rights reserved, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is published and distributed. by Activision Publishing, Inc 1999-2002 Activision, Inc. and its affiliates. Activision and Pro Skater are registered. trademarks, and Activision 02 and Sports Revolution are trademarks of Activision, Inc. and jts affilates.

All rights reserved. Tony Hawk is a trademark of Tony Hawk. All other trademarks and tradenames are property of their respective owners.

It’s national dairy month!

UNE 2K3

SUNDAY.

June is known for many things: the beginning of sum- mer, the longest day of the year—and, of course, Turkey Lovers’ month.

A

4

Hey, it's Fireworks Safety Month. Put own that M-80 and

boot up some Fantavision.

a

аюы» С

р a” |

MONDAY

Not many anticipat- ed games come out ‘this month. Unless you're looking for- ward to Reel Fishing ІІ, due tomorrow. If so, you'd be real excited for some reel action with Reel Fishing Ill.

Uh, yup.

«Tell your pop that he's tops. Buy him “The talian Job for Р52.

(% Official US. PlayStation Magazine

TUESDAY

The Animatrix is on DVD today! Other cool (but not as cool) releases include: About Schmidt, Die Another Day, The Incredible Hulk TV Series, and our fave, The Ben Stiller Show. T2: Extreme DVD is out, too, but you already have it.

Would the Hulk have a Shot with Elizabeth Hurley? Maybe if she’s feeling a bit vulnerable about turning 38 today.

WEDNESDAY

Celebrate Angelina Jolie’s birthday by getting a tattoo designed to ward off men with two first names.

It's National Splurge Day. How does a dashing young man like Hulk celebrate?

By eating that second

chili cheese dog.

Кё Chicks are

(CBS chose this date іп 495140 broadcast “Ив first color pro- gram—even though no color televisions had been sold to the public yet! Can you imagine if Sony decided to start selling games for PS3 right now?

THURSDAY...

Vans Warped Tour 703 featuring Andrew W.K. starts up in Idaho. Rumor has it that he likes to party!

www.cosplay.com Do you engage in cosplay? If you do, you probably already know about this site. If not, go see what you're missing.

FRIDAY

Will 2 Fast 2 Furious be able to live up to the original without videogame producer Vin Diesel? It will probably be better.

Dumb-and Dumber ranks as one of OPM's favorite comedies ever. Still, we're pretty sure that

When Lloyd Met Harry: Dumb and Dumberer is just

plain

rank. *

A

POP quiz

Хой want to go see The Hulk, Your lady wants to see Alex & Emma, starring Kate Hudson.

What do you do? Answer: Get angry and SMASH!!

-4 - Angel ‘ull Throttle has plenty of hotties and cool action sequences. But we're really excited because Crispin Glover (Willard) is

back and | in

creepier than ever.

SATURDAY

Baby got backhand. Anna Kournikova (sigh) is 22. :

Flag Day

It's Reviews Editor Joe Rybicki's birth- day. Не likes New Model Army T-shirts, playing chess, and eating Spam.

FanimeCon 2003, June 20-22, Santa Clara Convention Center. Will there be cosplay?

Hell, yes!! ТЕ

(Ozzfest kicks off in Зай Antonio, Texas. Check www.ozzfest. com to see if the oversaturated TV star/washed-up rocker will be in your area.

WHAT CANGHE BE WORN CAN ALWAMSIBEISNUCK OUT.

4 E Е * # à LUTER AT “Со. f$ р Built to Resist" Е Cs ie ni i i ^ 4 TA k "ЭХ C D NP: e Л

(0) M IN Marbelous.

SEE THE RESEMBLANCE?

On the left is Escher's Cycle, and on

the right is Marble Madness.

MARK CERNY

Founder of Cerny Games

Career Highlights:

Marble Madness, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Gash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon,

Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

aving joined Atari at 17, Mark

Cerny has been a creative force

in this industry for more than 20 years. He was the mastermind behind Marble Madness when he was merely 19. He founded Sega Technical Institute, Sega's U.S. development stu- dio, and played an important role on big projects like Sonic the Hedgehog 2. He served as president of Universal Interactive. But in order to return to his garne-design roots, he created his own studio, Cerny Games. Since then, he's. been a design consultant on the Crash, Spyro, Jak, and Ratchet series. We pulled him away from his work on Jak II and Ratchet 2 to chat with us.

Do you ever think about making anew Marble Madness?

I'd love to! Unfortunately, | never had the rights, and after а long chain of deals, they ended up at Infogrames, along with the Atari brand.

We understand Marble Madness’ visual style was inspired by M.C. Escher. Escher was fairly unknown in the States until the Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco began featuring him in its exhibits, starting around 1968. My par- ents saw his works at this gallery, were amazed by them, and ended up pur- chasing four of his lithographs over the years, | grew up looking at his art.

Can you tell us about how you reassembled Sonic Team in the U.S.? For whatever reason, Sonic Team was disbanded after the first Sonic was completed. The game was created at Sega in Tokyo, and once it was finished, Hirokazu Yasuhara (the lead designer) was transferred to the STI. Yuji Naka, who was the team leader and lead pro- grammer, actually quit Sega of Japan at about this time—he was underpaid and underappreciated to an extreme degree, On my next trip out to Tokyo, І talked him into joining Sega of America instead, where pay could be based on merit rather than seniority.

Hirokazu Yasuhara now works for Naughty Dog. What's it like to be teamed with him again?

Yasuhara is fantastically creative, and a very nice guy. He's the only designer at Naughty Dog lucky enough to be able to work strictly on level layouts.

Do you ever get confused working on two platform games at once?

It's certainly a lot easier to work on two games if my role оп one project is dif- ferent from my role on the other. For example, my work on Jak and Daxter was mostly technology, and my role on Ratchet & Clank was mostly design.

Ratchet & Clank and Jak and Daxter both have humor. What's the key to creating a funny game?

“Once you've had the rush you get from seeing the completed version of the game you worked on, it's hard to imagine a life without that feeling.”

It's strange, but Naughty Dog and Insomniac don’t appreciate each

other's humor. | can show off an early burn of one of the games to the other team, and get a deadpan response. So | guess there are many types of humor.

If you could make a game without wor- rying about sales, what would it be?

I'd like to go back to the world of

Marble Madness and create an adven- ture game: a philosophical quest where our hero, a marble, searches for the answers to the truly big questions,

such as, "Why does evil exist?"

Of all the characters you've worked with, which is your favorite?

Crash was the best—a character immediately appealing to anyone.

If you weren't making games right

now, what would you be doing?

Maybe some sort of hobbyist program- ming? Once you've had the rush you get from seeing the completed version of the game you worked on, it’s hard to imagine a life without that feeling.

Are there any games that you wish you could redo nowadays?

It sure would be fun to play with 3D glasses again. We made glasses with liquid-crystal shutters for the Sega Master System in the 1980s, where the graphics seemingly leapt off the

screen. Imagine what we could do with the technology available today!

ASTERMINE

.,. HANG ON FOR YOUR LIFE.

WAKEBOARDING

UNLEASHED || SHAUN MURRAY

PULL оғ

Water moves. Screenshots don't. For the real experience, check out

Comic Mischief

saison PlayStation.e ЖЕ nn Wireless =

‘CONTENT RATED BY (SFORTEREVEXUTON) ESRB

ACTIVISIONO2.COM

Murray. Developed tion” and the "PS"

RIDGE RACER EVOLVES

Namco proves GT4 isn't the only racer in town

ame every racing game ever released on PS2 and we won't hold it against you if you forget the launch title Ridge Racer V. After all, Gran Turismo has been the dominant racer on both PlayStation systems. But Namco's aiming to change all that with its hipper, hotter, story-driven R: Racing Evolution, the sequel to Ridge V.

Historically, the Ridge Racer series has prided itself on being the anti-Gran Turismo, keeping the gameplay arcadey. But with the off-the-charts sales numbers of GT3: A-spec and the projected sales of the upcoming GT4, Evolution is taking cues from its rival, trying to balance the gameplay between simulation and arcade. There will now be licensed cars first for the series—the screenshots reveal a Dodge Viper, Nissan Skyline, and Subaru Impreza WRX), 11 real-world and fantasy

tracks, and eight different race types (including circuit, rally, and drag—yes, drag!]. To ensure Evolution won't rest on its arcadey laurels, Namco combined the Ridge Racer and MotoGP development teams to balance the gameplay. Smart move, con- sidering MotoGP is as hardcore sim as it gets. Another GT-beating element [or so Namco hopes] are the two girl drivers— À, shown on the left—featured in the game's Racing Life mode, which should be a “huge leap beyond the "car-PG" story line that holds R4 together on the PS1.

RINA AND GINA

Namco's new speedy babes 1 They'e fierce competitors. | And they don't play пісе

[cial US. PlayStation Magazine

Yes (11%)

OPM POLL No (9%) Would you buy the EyeToy if

h Б I still don't get it was released in the US? Мауһе (18%)

what it is (61%)

SONY TOYS AROUND

Is this the future of gaming? We'll see about that...

It's a unique concept that's finally coming to fruition...but will people care? This summer, Sony finally launches its EyeToy in Europe. What's the EyeToy? A digital camera that interfaces with the PS2, it sits atop your television and translates your movements into a game. The potential is there—just imagine a Harry Potter game in which you can wave an actual wand and have a virtual wand do the same on screen. Or how about a Black & White-style God game in which you can control everything with your bare hands? Unfortunately, the first title released with the EyeToy—Eye Toy: Play, a collection of 12 minigames—shows that the peripheral has a long way to go. See what we mean with this selection of our favorites.

X... ў What better way for grandma to prac tice her sucker punch than with this boxing game? Keep moving to avoid your opponent and then land one!

Beat Freak: A music game that has you tossing CDs at loudspeakers in time to the music. Hey, this guy sure is having fun! Slap Stream: Characters pop out of clouds and you hit the evil ratmen while avoiding the bunny girls. Seriously.

ULTIMATE SIDEKICK

Ah, those constant companions who keep the hero from getting too lonely. The ultimate status symbol—and a source of humor, rage, love, and frustration for gamers every- where. Yes, we're talking about sidekicks. Which is tops? Daxter, apparently. Whatever.

CLANK DAXTER SCREE GLOBOX PIPOCHI MURRAY SHADOW BOOMER Characteristic v Ratchet & Clank Jak2 Primal Rayman3 Аре Escape2 Sly Cooper Dead to Rights | SOCOM

Shorter Than Hero | v v v v 4 мү ы и oder ee ssy

Able to Go Solo d

Likeable ЕЕ гого TOTALS 4 5 E] 3 3 3 4 1

You've read the manga in Newtype 81:16 >,

now experience the anime in your living room.

Чыке

etal.

Цин 17

Coming to DVD 6.10.03

Volume One available as а single disc ona Collector's Edition with a Custom агі Вон and Exclusive T-shirt

СМ NEU ' www.advfilms.com

FILMS

dye

BestBuy.com:

RARE

They talk big, but they back it up...somewhat. In its two years of existence, the Association has managed to make some good connections in the Dallas game-development community. It hosts its own computer game conference, an annual event that brings local developers to the UTD campus for lectures on breaking into the game industry and technical seminars on development issues. The group also meets every other week to work on its project, a set of minigames featuring three classic themes: nin- jas, pirates, and Vikings.

Brian Burleson, president of the SGDA, has made the group’s most successful venture into the game industry. Last year, he took a game- design course at UTD taught by Monkeystone's John Romero (Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake); a few months ago, he got a call out of the blue from his instructor, who asked if he would port Monkeystone’s puzzle game Congo Cube to Java. The game-design course will soon become part of a new set of degrees offered by UTD's Institute for Interactive Arts and Engineering: the B.A. and M.A. of Arts and Technology. Computer Game Development— and a follow-up course, Advanced Computer Game Development—will continuously cycle through game-industry veteran professors. After cycling through eight or nine bowls of tortilla chips, the dangerously full SGDA mem- bers head back to campus.

Official US. PlayStation Magazine ©

© SI IN Mmm...salsa!

GREAT LOCATION

Much of the game industry is centered around San Francisco, making the Art Institute a great spot for learning.

ARCA

The Institute resides in а building with a giant broadcast antenna jutting from its roof, the function of which no one seems to know. Recently purchased by the university, the building doesn't yet have an actual name. Institute Director Thomas Linehan shows us around the facilities, which don't currently amount to much. Linehan makes up for that with his enthusiasm.

"We're designing a full digital studio with green-screen capa-

bilities, a 14-camera motion- capture lab, and an immersive 180-degree projection environ- ment," Linehan says. "We'd like to give our students some expe- rience doing animation for widescreen." You can imagine the high-ceilinged room filled with lighting rigs, cables neatly snaking along the floor toward high-end production computers. Right now, though, the room is mostly empty, with computer kiosks lining the walls. At one

end, there's a control room behind studio glass; it's filled with more computers.

We make our way back to the classroom where the Student Game Developers Association has its meetings. "Nobody else uses this room, ever," one of the students says, flipping the chalk- board around to find last week's meeting notes erased. Linehan laughs uncomfortably; he's pro- tective of his program. He makes it very clear that, although the

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER

MASTER'S IN ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY Admissions Requirements: An undergraduate degree Must submit GRE scores or a portfolio of work Estimated Tuition: $18,667 per year

Degree Cost: $37,334

Classes Began: 1999

Wwww.etc.cmu.edu

Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center is the | Harvard of game-devel- | opment programs, plac- ing grads in internships and jobs at Electronic Arts, Rockstar, Maxis, and Angel Studios. But the program doesn't focus solely on games. "The Entertainment Technology Center is not exclusively a game design or development center," says Don Marinelli, co-director of the program. "We value game design and teach game design, but we also think that good game designers are well versed in other interactive media in the same way a good writer is a person of the world." Now in its fourth year, ETC accepts programmers, artists, screenwriters, and anyone else with an applicable talent. Student teams focus on completing projects, most of which are real commercial products. One team at ETC is currently working on a Microsoft-sponsored simulation that teaches first-responder emergency workers how to react to an attack from weapons of mass destruction.

Job Outlook Grads placed at Rockstar, Electronic Arts, Maxis, Angel Studios, Disney VR, and more.

Workload "The workload is intense, but manageable. It goes in cycles, with heavy pushes occurring just before big deadlines. But from what | know, that's the way the industry works, too." -Jason Yeung, first year student at ETC, interning at Disney VR studios this summer.

Social Life "My social life now is better than when | was working full-time. АЦ the students are very friendly with each other, and it's a good community. How can life be bad when my homework is to design a game and take а field trip to Disneyland?" -Jason Yeung

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO B.S. IN GAME ART AND DESIGN & B.S. IN VISUAL

AND GAME PROGRAMMING

Admissions Requirements: A high school diploma Estimated Tuition: $5,488 per quarter

Degree Cost: $65,856

www.aicasf.aii.edu

The Art Institute's two game-themed degrees are (understandably) skewed toward the art side of game development. The newer Visual and Game Programming B.S. provides more of a background in the technical side, while the B.S.

in Game Art and Design sticks to 3D-modeling level design.

The school has an active student developer organization; 30 of its members will attend E3 this year.

Job Outlook The program has already placed a few students in jobs before they even graduated. Going to И 5 11 school in the gaming corri- ё dor of San Francisco proba- bly doesn't hurt, and the school has made connec-

7) like LucasArts and Double Ч Fine. "Our program is designed to enable our stu- dents to acquire all the knowledge they need to get into the industry at an entry level," says Mary Clarke- Miller, academic director.

j They're growing up here."

Workload "The workload here is pretty intense. | mean, | go to school to learn how to design videogames, but these days, | rarely get to play them.” -Daniel Reiley Jr., first- year student in the Game Art and Design program

Social Life "Um, social life? | think | had one of those at one time, but | seem to have misplaced it. My nonschool friends think | have moved off-planet, and | have given up on the possibility of having any quality romantic time with a lady." -Daniel Reiley Jr.

Trying to get your folks to pony up the cash for a degree in game design? Just tell them that these are actual accredited programs that offer you true-blue degrees. Here are three of the top programs out there—but more are sure to pop up in the next few years. Start studying now!

UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE

SIMULATION AND DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT Admissions Requirements: An associate's degree or 24 transferable credit hours

Estimated Tuition: $6,912 per semester

Degree Cost: $27,646

Classes Began: Associate's, 2003; Bachelor's, coming in fall of 2004

iat.ubalt.edu/sde

About as unconventional as an accredited college degree gets, the Simulation and Digital Entertainment program is split between a community college (Baltimore County) and a night school (University of Baltimore]. Instead of the standard B.S. or В.А., students earn a В.Т.Р.5. (Bachelor of Technical or Professional Studies]. SDE divides its instruction between games and simulations, and hopes to produce renaissance game designers. "We're interested in acquainting our students with every aspect of game design and development," SDE professor Stuart Moulthrop

„_] says. "They get some program- Dl ming and some 3D graphic work, but most important, they prepare to be game designers."

Job Outlook Moulthrop sees two distinct career paths for his students: joining one of several local companies that produce technical simulations (Lockheed Martin, for опе) or forging paths into the emerging world of independent games. “I think there аге going to be people who just have that fire in their heart and want to create things, people who will find ways to build independent games and start small companies."

Workload “I've actually had less work to do with this— or maybe it's just that it doesn't feel like work. | love struggling and then suddenly figuring it all out. I'm enjoying working in class and not spending the entire class just listening. Most of all, I'm enjoying not writing papers." -Jennifer Nawrocki, first-semester SDE student

Social Life "| don't really have one outside of college, except for my family and a handful of noncollege friends. | hang out with the other people in the SDE program, as well as people in the Multimedia program." -Kristina Brigman, first-semester SDE student

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

FLU tHe Freaky 5

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R ^ Freaky Flyers represents the creation of Adventure Racing. You don't just

race, you dogfight, you stunt, and most importantly, you explore through

fully-open, interactive and enticing 3D locales. And, you share your intriguing experiences with the most alluring characters you could ever hope to play with.

>

DISCOVERY AROUND EVERY TURN

As you fly through Freaky’s 12 massive and enticing tracks, you should take note that your explo-

ration will actually trigger events that will dictate how the story and gameplay unfolds before you.

With unique and mesmerizing mini games and more than 1.5 hours of intriguing animated movies, original music, and a spellbinding back story, Freaky Flyers takes you on a journey that will challenge

VISIT EXCITING LOCALES

and intrigue you.

EN Эр Johnny Turbine} True-blue 4

American hers

Caribbean Danger Island-

Й. Jungles and lagoons teem with all manner

of peril like pirates, man-eating plants, and beautiful mermaids.

Haunted Transylvania-

Explore craggy peaks and haunted castles but steer clear of the giant spider webs, zombies, and diabolic machines of the mad scientist.

Roaring Chicago-

Buzzing around the big city you'll loop and dive around gangsters and g-men exchang- ing heated words and hot lead.

Frigid Canada-

Fly through the lumberjack village; shoot down woodland targets, and even snag Big Foot in a net as you race.

Mexico’s Coyote Canyon-

Travel through abandoned gold mines, rescue a damsel from the train tracks, fly through "East" Indian Casinos, and stop a cattle stampede and the rowdy banditos behind it.

War Torn Germany-

It is up to you to help turn the tides of war by delivering secret documents, fix the resistance factories, and blow up the German’s tanks.

Arabian Flights-

Defeat the Genie, find the sultan’s treasure, shoot down the 40 thieves, and keep your head off the chopping block by showing off your air combat skills.

Giant Monsters of Tokyo-

Giant monsters are destroying the city, alongside ninjas, fighter jets, and little Freakymon monsters, a te the giant robot and save Tokyo.

Fly the Freaky Skies and see where the adventure takes you.

ONLY іне месе Characters

Travel with over a dozen unique and alluring characters, each with their own beguiling stories.

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Freaky Flyers ©2002 Midway Home Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. MIDWAY and the Midway Logo are registered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Used by permission. Freaky Flyers is trademark of Midway Home Entertainment Inc. TM, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. ‘PlayStation’ and the "PS' Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainme: 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.

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Master the Freaky Flyers skies as you unleash your inner warrior and battle your friends in multiplayer mayhem. RACE head-to-head and exchange machine gun fire or choose from more than a dozen other lethal power-up weapons on every track! Challenge your friends to the intense action of Dogfighting Mode, but remember: in the arena, the pilot

_ with the most skill gets the kill!

essence FI'eNDS EO intense HeaD-t0-HeaD соміван

VOIMING JULY 2003

Visit WWW.FPeaKUFLUEPS.COM

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TME

Explore, dogfight and race with some of the most freaky characters you have ever played with, in the first-and-only, fully-open, interactive, 3-D, racing videogame.

© 13 alluring characters and dozens more hidden © 12 massive and enticing tracks

e Enthralling race and dog fight modes

e unique and mesmerizing mini games

e Amazing head-to-head multiplayer action

i

Coming July 2003

Log onto www.freakyflyers.com

Comic Mischief (©; PlayStation e ї Mild Violence

Suggestive Themes

GAMECUBE.

Freaky Flyers ©2002 Midway Home Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. MIDWAY and the Midway ү are registered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Used by permission. Freaky ез is a trademark of Midway Home Entertainment Inc. TM, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. "PlayStation and the "PS" мий 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.

ea ca

University of Texas Board of Regents is destined to approve the new degrees, it hasn't yet. When the degrees do officially become available, students going for a B.A. or M.A. in Arts and Technology will have their choice between a Visual Design Studies

Game development is popping up in the course schedules of colleges and universities throughout the country

focus and a Game Studies and Interactive Narrative focus, with the latter more directly related to game development. With both degrees requiring courses in sub- jects like black-and-white photog- raphy, film, storytelling, drawing, and the history of technology, you can hardly say the program is about games.

In one form or another, game development is popping up in the course schedules of colleges and universities throughout the coun- try. Some schools, like UTD and the others listed over these pages, have created new departments and degrees to cater to students trying to equip themselves for game-development jobs. Many other schools are offering single courses or concentrations in exist-

ing programs and degrees. Games have spread from the dorm room to the classroom—but know what you're getting into before you apply. The programs that will actually land you a job will be tough. Jesse Schell, of the top-of-the-line Entertainment

Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, advises: "A lot of people say, 'Hey, 1 like playing videogames. l'd like to make videogames.' That's a lot like say- ing, ‘Hey, | like taking baths, so maybe I'd like to be a plumber The two don't really have much to do with each other.”

ON THE DISC Don't miss PlayStation Undergrounds Dev 101 fe, п this month's DVD!

COMING

or applicable area

$45,930 Fall 2004 www.rit.edu

"RIT is a very large, engineering-dominated school, so our program is focusing very heavily on graphics and engine development," says Andrew Phelps, associate professor at RIT. Though not slated to begin its first term until fall 2004, bits

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MASTER'S OF GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT A B.S. in Computer Science

: $7,655 per quarter

SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY THE GUILDHALL

equal experience, plus a portfolio

Summer 2003 www.guildhall.smu.edu

Promising celebrity profs

scene like John Romero (Quake, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D) and Tom Hall (Duke Nukem 3D, Doom), this new program hopes to feed stu- dents directly into local development companies. Students specialize in one of

An undergraduate degree or

$36,000 all-inclusive (books, supplies, laptop—you're on your own for housing, though]

of the Master's of Game Design and Development pro- gram are currently available as a concentration in RIT's other computer-science graduate degrees. More than any other program currently available, RIT's degree aims squarely at programmers who want to specialize in game development.

three areas: Art Creation, Software Development, or Level Design. Students take courses in their specialization but form teams to carry out game-development projects. The final project is a fully original game created from scratch. After 18 months, students get a nonaccredited certificate (not a degree], but have hopefully made the portfolio and industry contacts they need to get a job.

One day, you'll have the opportunity to become a doctor of gaming. No, we're not talking about being one of those creepy guys who hangs around the local arcade bragging about high scores and hardened thumbs. We're talking about tweed jackets, lush campuses, and eager students hanging on your every word.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS THE INSTITUTE FOR INTERACTIVE ARTS AND ENGINEERING A high school diploma, SAT scores [for the В.А. program] $5,657.40 per semester $45,259

TBA

jiae.utdallas.edu

Once approved by the higher-ups, UTD will offer bachelor’s (B.A.] and master's (М.А., M.F.A.] degrees with optional concentrations in game studies. Far from the industry-spe- cific training of local competitor SMU's Guildhall, IIAE’s eclectic course offer- ings (History of Technology, Science Fiction, Writing for Interactive Media) aim to expand the creative possibili- ties of games and to bring interactive elements into other forms of art, entertainment, and education. If all goes as planned, the program will even offer a Ph.D.

Official 05, PlayStation Magazine

Face your gravest fears in an all-new, nightmarish first-person action-shooter adventure for your PlayStation’ 2 computer entertainment system. Encounter а new level of horror as you battle flesh devouring zombies and murderous mutants

to regain control of a sea-jacked cruise ship lost in the Atlantic.

Intense blend of action, puzzle UPGRADE your weapons as you Supports GUNCON 2 light gun solving and DEAD-ON graphics progress through the game and DUALSHOCK 2 controllers

1 19 |

с> 4, E GUNCOND м

(0 CAPCOM CO. LTD., 2003. © CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 2003. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CAPCOM, the CAPCOM logo and RESIDENT EVIL is a registered trademark of CAPCOM CO., LTD. бипсоп! 2 & (02000 NAMCO LTD., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The ratings icon is a regist "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo and DUALSHOCK are rogistered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

PlayStation.

capcom.com

Blood and Gore

Violence tered trademarks of CAPCOM CO., LTD. RESIDENT EVIL

idemark of the Inte

с Digital Software Association.

Bling. Bling.

(91:11)

FF: Unl F: Unur

The Final Fantasy anime series, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, will be

broadcast on the Anime Network in

late summer. Plus, a DVD set is due out this fall.

ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE

Here in the Watchdog column, | talk a lot about videogames and the First Amendment— and how | feel the latter pro- tects the former.

When | say that, I’m usually talking about videogames in relation to the most obvious First Amendment right: free- dom of speech. But recently, I've begun to wonder whether technology has reached a point at which other First Amendment protections also come into play.

If you haven't read the First Amendment—shame on you!—then you тау not be aware that in addition to рго- tecting speech, it also protects the freedom of the press, the freedom of religion (ог lack thereof), and the free- dom to petition the government when something's both- ering us. It also protects the right of citizens to peace- ably assemble—that is, to come together as groups.

It's the last of these that provides an interesting wrin- kle. Videogames have historically been a fairly solitary activity—at most, a few friends at a time could get together to play—but with the advent of online gaming, people from all over the country (indeed, all over the world} can assemble in a virtual place for a shared common purpose. Typically, of course, that purpose is playing games. But many online universes are open and flexible enough to allow people to assemble for any purpose: It’s not at all inconceivable, for example, that someone might try to schedule a “protest march” ina virtual world, and that hundreds or even thousands of players might sign on and show up specifically for that purpose. So ask yourself: Is this “real” peaceable assembly? Is it constitutionally protected? | think it might be...in theory, at the very least.

In the real world, however, there are several practical issues to consider, not the least of which is that online games are usually played on servers owned by private companies, which aren't bound to honor First Amendment protections. Then there's the software itself: User agreements could conceivably curtail certain forms of assembly. So much of the online world is priva- tized that this could be a moot point. On the other hand, the Internet itself is a quasi-public entity created by the U.S. government, even though it's now administered largely by private corporations. It's an interesting legal and philosophical nut to crack.

Regardless, what's really interesting about this line of thinking is that it shows how technology is opening new doors of expression and freedom as it evolves and grows. Think about that the next time you play online. Make sure you don't take any of it for granted.

What do you think of Scalzi’s point of view? Peaceably assemble in the OPM message board at Gamers.com to tell him—or shoot him an e-mail at

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

| AWESOME Bombastics Japanese | name is Xi бо (pronounced sai go). “Saigo” | is slang for "awesome" in Japanese.

5: |

DATA STREAM

Time to Suck Again

Sony is working on Mr. Mosquito 2 for a Japanese release this summer. This one takes place in Hawaii, with Mr. Mosquito tagging along in the Yamada family's luggage. Let's hope it eventu- ally comes here!

7114

PLAYAS PL

Eminem, P. Diddy, and Eve get their game on

nyone who has seen rappers featured on MTV's Cribs knows the celebs haven't hit the big time unless they've got a PS2 hooked up in the den. And in the bedroom. And in the stretch limo. Those rap stars sure do love that PS2. Def Jam: Vendetta kicked things off, so it's no surprise that two of the biggest names in rap, P. Diddy and Eminem, are about to fol- low suit by going interac- tive. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs says he's working on a game about himself (surprise!) in which you're required to create an entertainment conglomerate by signing music acts. As for Marshal "Eminem" Mathers, Conspiracy is releasing a budget inter- active PS1 tribute to the star. Due out

Positively Not Gay

this summer, Mix TV Presents Eminem fuses the star's music videos with minigames, creating what's being dubbed a true fan-appreciation product.

Even one of the bad girls of rap, Eve, is about to take part in a game. She has been tapped to play Major Jones in Ubi

Soft's upcoming stylish first- person shooter, XIII. "My charac- ter, Jones, is a strong, sexy female with atti- tude," the self- described "pit bull in a skirt" told us. "My fans will easily relate her to me."

It looks like everyone wants to get virtual now. Let's just hope R. Kelly doesn't get any ideas—although seeing this month's Only in Japan, we've got an idea on how his story could be done.

TDK has revealed He-Man: Defender of Grayskull for a PS2 release this November. And just because it features muscle-bound men in loin- cloths riding oversized cats doesn't mean a single thing.

Mr. Bombastic

This July, Capcom will release a PS2 sequel to the cult favorite PS1 puzzle game Devil Dice. Titled Bombastic, it’s packed with insanely addictive dice-rolling action.

This Game RahX

Lady Miss Kier, formerly of the pop act Deee-lite, f believes Sega's Space Channel 5 has stolen her image and is now suing over it. Best known for "Groove Is in the Heart," Kier claims Sega's char- acter Ulala resembles her a little too closely. According to the lawsuit, Sega representatives offered to license her name, likeness, and recordings for the game several years ago, for roughly $15,000; she declined, and Sega appropriated her likeness anyway. / Kier is now seeking $750,000 for Sega's alleged misuse.

Let's just hope this cat fight won 2 affect Agetec's U.S. release of Space Channel 5 Part 2.

tration: Scalzi, Greg White

Bandai is currently working оп а Р52 game based on the

insanely popular mech anime RahXephon. It features lots of shooting action and animated cut-scenes. For more on the

series, check out this month's Animania! column on page 51.

Photo: Eminem, Retna; Eve, wireimage.com.

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[67 4 1. PIN зэ Capcom has revealed its new cel-shaded 3D action title, Crimson Tears. It's being developed by Dream Factory, which previously handled The Bouncer for Square. Join us now in crossing our fingers.

Talk About a Switch

Namco has revealed a sweet- looking third-person shooter called kill.switch. It allows you to hide behind objects while firing at enemies. The odd part? It’s from the team that brought us Pac-Man World.

BOND IS BACK! [5

The world's greatest secret agent returns with a whole new bag of tricks

hen it comes to smooth-talking Even though you'll be behind Bond in the There's now a two-player co-op mode, along

martini-sipping secret agents on new game, the goal is to make it feel more with four-player arena modes for some

PS2, none are slicker than 007. like you are Bond. Whether you're trolling good ot fashioned killin’. Sega is working on a sequel to That's why EA is bringing Bond back for the Valley of the Kings in Egypt or the The real Bond, Pierce Brosnan, returns to Shinobi called Kunoichi, due another run in Everything or Nothing (we French Quarter in New Orleans, you'll be lend both his cyberscanned face and his out this fall. The cool part? have a feeling Bond creator lan Fleming is able to fight hand to hand or sneak your way voice [a first for the series], with accent in This one has you playing as a flip-flopping in his grave over the title). But out of sticky situations. That includes every- full effect, of course. And it's the accent that female ninja {kunoichi means instead of being James Bond and seeing thing from bottle-bashing brawls to stealthy wins him the usual cast of eye-popping female ninja in Japanese). through his eyes, you'll take on a third-per- ^ theft of foes’ identities. beauties that define any Bond experience. son perspective in this latest romp (Clish Naturally, the sticky situations might be Look for Everything or Nothing when it Bazooka for a Leg! called it right!). easier to wiggle out of with a little help. hits this fall.

NEED FOR URBAN SPEE

If you're one of the masses who loved the Wm breakneck speed of Rockstar's Midnight Club ІІ, you're in for a treat with EA's Need for Speed: Underground. But instead of just burning nitrous to win races and nab new rides, you'll be able to

Sega's Wow Entertainment is working with famed Japanese

customize your vehicle using parts from some of the biggest aftermarket manufacturers, like

AEM Inc., Audiobahn, Bilstein, Dazz Motorsport,

Eibach, HKS, Holley, Injen, MOMO, Neuspeed, and StreetGlow.

Once you've built up your auto, get online and

battle other souped-up cars from around the globe. The flag drops in early 2004.

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

manga artist Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy) on a game called Dodoro. In it, you star as Hiyakkimaru and wage war with a bazooka embedded in your leg and a blade attached to your arm. Too cool!

МАСЕ GRIFFIN |

This is what he looks like.

Kinda like Henry Rollins. Yep. ЖҰ.

Henry Rollins takes some time from his oh-so-busy schedule to play the voice of Mace Griffin

а mith a schedule that includes making music with the Rollins Band,

writing books, hosting TV shows, running his company 2.13.61, providing voices for cartoons, organizing benefits for the West Memphis Three, and appearing in movies like Bad Boys Il, it's not surprising Henry Rollins doesn't have time to play videogames. And yet the always-busy Hank— who just released two new spo- ken-word albums, Talk Is Cheap Vol. 1 and 2, through his website ( ) and will spend the summer touring with the Rollins Band, with ай the proceeds going to the West Memphis Three—somehow found the time to be the hero of Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter. Imagine that.

| liked the plotlines and thought that | could do a good job at it. | had never done this before. I'd

done voice-overs before, but not

was most important, to get a visual on the face and body type.

He's a tough guy, so there’s a lot of that laconic Hemingway-esque talk, which | take to quite well as

there was a lot more to it as far as character development. That was more fun for me.

They've spoken with my manager about placing some songs іп

{сап remember. lthinkWethave a song in something that Tony Hawk, the skater guy, put out, but I'm not sure,

1 haven't seen the finished prod- uct. I'm on tour and will see it at

“He's a tough guy, so there's a lot of that laconic Hemingway-esque talk, which I take to quite well as far as delivery. There was no cringe factor.”

an involved character, 50 | con- sidered it a new challenge and went for it.

| basically saw some of the game and what Mace looked like. That

far as delivery. It was well written and there was no cringe factor.

This was not as high volume, and

there, but | don't know where that’s at right now.

This is the first and only time that

some point, | guess.

I've had no chance to play the

game. I’m not much on games,

but l'll give it a try а! some point. —Paul Semel

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (4)

ON THE DISC

Howdy-doo,

layed a Dynasty Warriors same? Lu Bu.

Try DW4 right now on this month's demo DVD!

MUSOU MA

5 questions about Dynasty Warriors 4

1 taway According to the Hollywood Reporter, a big-screen version of The Getaway is

scheduled to start production in 2004. Let's hope Guy Ritchie will direct.

|

What were your goals for improving the

Dynasty Warriors formula in this game? With Dynasty Warriors 4, my intent was to improve the quality of every aspect of the series—to make the best Dynasty Warriors yet. | tried to improve the quality of the game and to keep longtime players satisfied. However, I’m not sure if we have achieved that yet. We're looking forward to hearing players' opinions.

Which character do you use the most? What makes him or her your favorite? My favorite is Ma Chao. In previous games, his ability was weaker compared to other charac- ters; however, his ability is improved even when he's on horseback. | often use him because һе gets stronger if he uses special items.

Are there any other historical scenarios

you'd like to see in a Dynasty Warriors type of game? Or maybe a movie license? | have suggested for a long time that we use the DW engine with other materials, but I've had a difficult time getting it through the com- pany [laughs]. I'd love to take on the challenge of a movie license if | ever have the opportunity.

Amy

What would these historical figures think about starring in a game? | assume that some of them would be upset about being depicted as bald, or as a masked warrior, or as a two-sword-wielding pretty boy. However, 1,800 years after the fact, | think it's a great thing that their heroic exploits have been depicted in videogames released around the world.

Why do Westerners find Dynasty Warriors

50 intriguing when most have never even heard of the Three Kingdoms? l intended to create a game that users who aren't familiar with the Three Kingdom era of Chinese history will enjoy. Apparently, only 30 percent of users in Japan know about the Three Kingdom era. But | have heard many players say they became more inter- ested in Chinese history after playing the Dynasty Warriors series.

(Answered by Takazumi Tomoike, producer, Dynasty Warriors 4.)

DREAM CAST

Yeah, we know what you're thinking: Xenosaga [the game) is already just a few polygons shy of being an interactive movie, so why bother casting an actual film? Because it's a great excuse to surf the Web searching for pics of hot starlets! That, and the fact that it has a story and a cast that can actually hold up on the big screen.

Got any ideas for a Dream Cast of your own for another game? Send them to us at opmfüziffdavis.com with the subject DREAM CAST.

TE А ELOTABLOGRANDE

J&T)

Gallagher might be a bit too butch for the androgynous chaos, but we're betting he can stretch his acting chops on this quirky character.

You thought the red Evangelion was down for the count, but no—it's back and better than ever in its big breakout role

from Party of Five would turn out so freakin' hot?

Who knew a robot could be equally as hot?! Wowza!

Sh e After her star turn in The Gift (well, at least a star turn for her tasty tatas], this Dawson Creeker is set to strut her stuff as the

sassy chief engineer Shion.

So sweet, so innocent, so perky...Amanda Bynes is

Both are boyish on the out-

One is a combat cyborg. side, but wise and experi-

Remember, in the future, all science officers wear skimpy outfits. Yeah!

ready for her first darkly

type Realian MOMO.

demure role as the proto-

The other plays the bongos nude with another man. But, hey—they look alike.

enced beyond their years on the inside. Jr. and Osment are a perfect pair.

photos from wireimage.com

aes. 7 7 2) n i

marc ecko

scopes

mee | ecko.com Dominic Chianese

©SPIN

Bigger, better, and busting with adventure, Lara Croft returns to the silver screen

uick: Close your eyes and picture Lara

Croft. What do you see? Yep, we

thought so—not the game icon, but Angelina Jolie. Despite starring in a mediocre film, Jolie has remade Lady Croft in her own image, transforming the virtual vixen into a like- ness of herself. And it has paid off. Thanks to Jolie's star power, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider raked in over $300 million.

But a lot has changed since the film was released back in the summer of 2001. Movie- goers expect more. Heck, we gamers expect more. It's not enough to grab onto Lara's holsters and hope for another wild ride at the box office.

The good news? The people at Paramount agree. That's why they've hired a new director. That's why they've written an actual story. That's why they've kept the action hot while making sure the character development is even hotter. And that's why we've got five reasons you should look forward to Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life: Tomb Raider 2, set to hit theaters July 25.

Producer Lloyd Levin, director Jan de Bont (Twister, Speed], and even the game's creators at Core agree that the first film had a remarkably weak story. It's a concession that's rare in Hollywood, and one that could give Paramount's newest movie franchise very long legs—if the second film delivers on the promise that fans had hoped for the first time.

О Official US. PlayStation Magazine

"| see you, but you still don't exist in my world.”

“We learned а lot of lessons оп the first movie,” explains Levin. “We're staying away from the cartoony stuff we did in the first film. This one employs a whole new visual style. It's more realistic, edgier...more dimen- sional. It offers a much more complex palate than the first one.”

Levin also realizes that “the suc- cess of the first movie was fueled by the game players,” and hopes that an improved sequel “will play to a broader audience.” The fact that this film began with a completed script, something the original never had, bodes well.

Levin is quick to admit the first film didn’t challenge its Oscar-winning actress (who's signed on for three films). After several cuts, the movie turned into nothing more than a series of blustery action sequences. This time around, Jolie—who's more comfortable with Lara Croft now—will be allowed to emote.

“In the first film, we had to walk that fine line between the game and reality,” Jolie tells us. “Now, we can just make Lara that much more human. For me there was also that first time 1 had to walk out in shorts and some tight outfit—I personally just found that really uncom- fortable. And now | don't mind. I've gotten into enjoying being her, whereas last time I still found it ridiculous when | looked in the mirror.”

Even de Bont was surprised by how in tune Jolie was with Lara. He should know, since he’s a Tomb Raider fan, thanks to his 12-year- old son, who has played the games. After fail- ing to get the directing gig on the first film, de Bont was thrilled to help set things right with the franchise.

"Story's very important for a successful movie,” says de Bont. “You need coherent story

OVERHEARD ‘No smoking, no full frontal nudity, and, uh, | don't think she can kill puppies, or something like that.” —Producer Lloyd Levin on Соге5 Lara Croft restrictions

BOOB RAIDER

Wanna peek at Jolie's juicy jubblies?

Rent these: Gia, Original Sin, and Foxfire.

and meaningful relationships, otherwise the movie is a bunch of action sequences. We deliver on both counts. We have the action and a good story and strong characters.”

“A lot had to be estab- lished in the first one, so we didn’t have time to get into who Lara is—what she fears, what she loves, what makes her laugh, what she

finds sexy—all the things that make for an interest- ing film,” Jolie says. “It’s been great to explore those things and put her in situa- tions where she’s forced to come out of her stoic exterior.”

еу

Don't worry—there's still plenty of ction. “We upped the action quotient in this film, which has two to three times more than the first one," Levin promises

As was the case in the first movie, the fearless Jolie performed most of her own stunts. And the stunts are much more extravagant now, thanks to a story by Levin and Production Designer Kirk Petruccelli. “Angelina will train and try almost any- ing,” says second-unit Director Simon Crane. “She'd make a great stunt person if һе wasn't such a great actress.”

Along the way, the adventurous Jolie suf- fered a few injuries. “I’m missing a slight piece of my right elbow,” she laughs, explaining that a boat collision was the cause. “And a shotgun shell went in my eye, but that was more of a funny thing that just stalled us for a few hours.”

Neither Jolie nor Lara has a problem with heights, as evidenced by the film's sky- diving sequence. On the second day of OPM's exclusive set visit, the actress spent most of the afternoon climbing atop a 60- foot statue of Alexander the Great—without a safety harness, at times.

Jolie also had the chance to learn Kendo,

elaborate treasure hunt.

The Cradle of Life sends Lara on a search for Pandora's Box that spans China, Greece, Hong Kong, Tasmania, and Kenya. Although some were filmed on location, many sequences took place on massive sets built on London's famed Pinewood Studios. “The settings offer greater variety, from ancient

shadow warriors battling Lara and her entourage as they close in on Pandora's Box. The other is the locale for the film's first scene: The Luna Temple is a massive tomb built on a 30-degree angle that’s flooding with water. A 60-foot bronze statue of Alexander the Great is the centerpiece of the tomb, which also includes massive stat-

“In the first film, we had to walk that fine line between the game and reality. Now, we can just make Lara that much more human.”

to perfect a 27-point military rifle drill (used in combat against sword-wielding enemies), and to fire weapons underwater. She also begged to film one highlight of the water- logged script (which includes jet skis, underwater bike rides, and escaping a flooding tomb): an encounter with a real shark. The producers, though, deemed the stunt too dangerous and used a double and computers to finish the sequence.

When the extravagant stunts were beyond human daredevils, the film employed computers to make the impossi- ble possible—like a motorcycle race across the Great Wall of China. “This film is much more involved with special effects, not just in quantity, but in the ambitions of the CG,” says Levin. “We have a wider variety of effects that are being employed in more interesting ways.”

In a sly reference to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, the movie opens with an action sequence that leaves Lara believed dead and buried in a tomb destroyed by a volcanic eruption. After that, the movie turns into an

to mythological to futuristic,” Levin says.

As is typical in Hollywood, everything is bigger in this $100 million sequel. Paramount spared no expense оп the film's sets. One of the most impressive was built outside: The Pagoda Square set re-creates, in unbelievable detail, a small city square in Shanghai, adorned with flashy lights, quaint store fronts, and a large temple in the cen- ter. In the film, it’s the setting of a nighttime action sequence in which Lara rides a neon sign across the town’s rooftops and faces off against an army of baddies who-land in a helicopter in the center of town. She escapes by riding a pair of bulls through the streets, guns blazing.

Another large outdoor set is the Balikal Prison in Kazakstan, complete with tanks and cannons. Lara must infiltrate the prison and rescue Terry Sheridan (played by Gerard Butler]. Sheridan and Lara develop a relationship during the adventure

Inside the studio’s massive 007 Stage {so called thanks to the many Bond films made here) are two huge sets. One hosts a petri- fied forest—which, in the film, appears toward the end of the adventure, with CG

ues of horse-drawn gladiators and a shark- infested pool of water.

Toward the middle of the film, Lara trav- els to China to explore yet another tomb. The studio set features 60 terracotta stone warriors—which, unlike the stone monkeys in the first film, do not come to life. This time around, Lara battles Chinese hench- men, destroying the statues along the way.

The movie uses Wales to double for China (Paramount hired every Chinese-food restaurant employee in town as extras) and even filmed a sequence on an active volcano in Africa, complete with rescue choppers ready to whisk the crew away to safety.

Although Jolie doesn’t wear Lara Croft's trademark shorts in Cradle of Life, she does sport seven sexy outfits, including a bikini. But what many fans remember most fondly from the first film is that tantalizing glimpse of Lara in the shower. Well, things get even sultrier in the sequel, thanks to a sex scene that de Bont promises will “push the bound aries of PG-13. It's very sexy.”

-John Gaudiosi

photos: Copyright 2003 by Paramount Pictures

SEGA'S SONIC BO

The rebirth of Sega...again! How many times is that now?

onic the Hedgehog may appeal remains strong. Sonic Heroes, its first Sonic game rate to solve puzzles and collect

be the hardiest character Sega's decision to sustain Sonic ог PS2. Unlike previous Sonic rings. It's Sonic's first major

in gaming. Outside of his in the post-Dreamcast era has titles, Heroes is more than a 3D gameplay change since his move marquee appearances, the poor been hindered by its questionable platformer played at warp speed; to 3D four years ago. One editor guy's name has been dragged resistance to bring its mascot to now, it's all about cooperation. You | described Sonic Heroes as "Sonic through the muck, thanks to a the largest audience in gaming control three characters [these Team's version of Lost Vikings" host of bad handheld games and Why the steady flow of GameCube screens show Sonic, Tails, and (an ancient game by Blizzard, latter-day "collections" offering remakes? Who knows? Knuckles, but other teams include recently re-released for Game Boy very little that hasn't been seen Finally, common sense has the Chaotix group populated by a Advance]. We'll have more screens before. Yet somehow, Sonic's prevailed. At E3, Sega unveiled bunch of bad guys] that collabo- and info next month.

ion by Crystal McNair

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

WHO WILL SEGA MERGE WITH?

Sammy's out...so is it EA? Namco? Microsoft?

amers were flummoxed by the news in March that Sega and Sammy were to merge opera-

tions in Japan. Sega, which has had trou- ble finding its feet since pulling out of the hardware business in 2001, is still a high- ly regarded, if somewhat quirky game developer and publisher. Sammy, also a unique team, is predominantly in the

do best.

But news emerged in late May that the partnership had been suddenly called off, dashing all hope of a Virtua Crazy Sonic Happy Samurai Pachinko title. Third parties continued to circle around Sega (both Electronic Arts and Microsoft were said to favor Sega as a turnkey opportunity to become “big in Japan"], but it turns out

“[Sega] has betrayed and embarrassed us. We don't really care [if the deal goes through or not] anymore.”

business of Japanese pachinko machines (imagine a combination of pinball and slot machine that's quite stupendously boring and yet beloved by Japanese folks). The rumored partnership certainly wouldn't have set the companies on the road to world domination, but they would have complemented each other quite nicely, thank you. Boring? Oh, yes. Sensible? Of course—that's what Japanese businesses

that leaked news of an offer from Namco is what finally broke things down between Sega and Sammy.

"[Sega] has betrayed and embarrassed us," a senior Sammy executive said in late April. "We don't really care [if the deal goes through or not] anymore."

Well, that much is clear. It didn't.

Nor did the Namco deal, leaving Sega jilted twice.

SONIC HAPPY MEAL?

In late June, McDonald's will introduce one of its largest-ever Happy Meal promotions. Hand over $1.99 for your tiny burger and fries and they'll be accompanied by one of six elec- tronic games featuring either Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Monkey Ball. The games are apparently some of the most advanced bits of tat that have ever been shoved in a box along with a slice of microwaved cow flesh.

“EPISODES, A BO :

А CUSTOM ART BOX

COPIOUS DVD EXTRAS: ALSO AVAILABLE IN A SP

WITH AN EXCLUSIVE T-SHIRT AND

Z.

YUMERIA

Pac-Man, Ridge Racer, Tekken—just some of the venera- ble franchises produced by Namco. Universally respect- ed as it might be, even Namco has a few skeletons in its closet. For every Soul Calibur there's a...Yumeria. Well, let's be fair: Yumeria isn't a bad game. For all we know, Yumeria may very well be a great game. From the pic- tures, you'd assume this is one of those wacky Japanese dating sims. You'd be wrong. Although it shares the same basic gameplay angle (chat it up with cutesy anime girls], there’s also an action-shooter portion—and the main object of the game isn’t getting the women in the sack. Instead, it's rather more insidious. There's a convo- luted plot involving a character literally plucked from your dreams (predictably, she's young, cute, and "will- ing"), along with a disturbing dreamworld where girls wear cat ears. But the most striking thing about these girls is their age. The "grandmother" of the bunch is 22, while others clock in as young as 14. This wouldn't be so disturbing if Yumeria wasn't so, er, hands-on. Literally. Your hand appears while conversing with the characters, and you can touch them to change the outcome of

events. Before slipping into the brief and totally bizarre shooter segments, various parts of the girls' bodies will light up, and touching them in the right spots leads to maximum effectiveness. You're not giving a kindly pat on the back here, either—among areas lit up for touching with a gentle stroke is the, um, lower pelvic region. Given the apparent age (even the 22-year-old looks underage] of the characters, this makes us somewhat

. Don't look for Yumeria to come over to America anytime soon—although we'd be lying if we said we weren't hoping for Namco to bring it here, if only to see just how on Earth they'd explain this.

unea:

OTHER HANDS-ON GAMES

Black & White (PC): How better to control а God game than with, say, the hand of God? An innovative interface saw your hand controlling everything—from disci- plining your creature with a sharp slap to “pleasuring’ it

Wario Ware (GBA): Among this brilliant collection of manic microgames is one where the object is to stick your finger up your nose. Now, that’s hands-on.

О Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Beat the heat with our summer rental roundup

S

TEE SUMMER LOVIN’

unshine is bad for you. Barbeques are bad for you. Getting bitten by a poisonous jellyfish, then curling up into a ball as your throat constricts and your body spasms, is really bad for you. So what to do during those dog days of sum- mer? Lock yourself indoors and play videogames! Assuming you've already made your way through the blockbuster releases, we've prepared a dozen top rental choices for some gaming goodness that you might have otherwise overlooked.

Breath of Fresh Air Limited Appeal Short but Sweet Must Play

Why don't you sam- Best to try it before Perfect for a quick It's just too hot to ple something new? you buy it. summer fling. miss out on.

Good but Flawed Play With Your Pals Weird and Wacky Rental Only

Kinda like a day at Cool down with a These games are What to do on a dull, Six Flags. few buds. crazy from the heat. rainy day.

ФФФФ Sony CEA

Hey, now. You're a rock star. Get your game on. Go, play. The best news: There's no Smash Mouth anywhere to be found in this stellar but short- lived music game.

Ф

MGS2: Substance ФФФФФ Konami

If you haven't yet played MGS2, then you're probably too poor to afford a PS2. If you have, then you'll still want to rent Substance for all the extra gameplay goodies.

3: Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter PADD Capcom

So you die, then start over, again and again. That's part of the game. Hey, we love it—but it's quirky enough that you'll want to try before you buy.

х

Clock Tower 3 ФФФ Capcom

We thought it fell flat in the fright department, but other gamers found the wacky story to be totally creepy. Either way, it’s a solid quick fix for survival-horror fans.

NBA Street Vol. 2 9ФФФФФ ЕА Big

Yeah, we know tons of you already own this, but we still need to give it a holler for all you sports hatas. Grab some pals and check this out—it might change your mind.

2

n

ZOE: 2nd Runner $$$ Konami

А chaotic yet brilliantly viscer- al game. Translation: It looks darn-freakin' awesome. It has also got some of the slickest mech action around. Too bad it's all over so quickly.

B

illustration by Greg White.

Clish MacLaver's

GOSSI GOSSI

All the muck that's fit to rake

All kinds of things are happening in the coming year, but with Metal Gear and Gran Turismo already out of the bag, what’s the big gossip?

FINAL FANTASY XII

Beyond the major games. announced at E3, what else is there that’s mega huge to look for- ward to? Don’t forget that there’s another Final Fantasy set to rear

it’s gorgeous-looking head in the coming months. Early rumors that XII would make it to U.S. gamers before Х/ crashes its way into our online lives are looking to be unfounded. Expect the game to emerge in late 2004, with screens and info probably starting to turn up by this fall. What we do know so far is this: It’s a single-player game, not online, but it may have

eee

is іп the works at lon Storm. Apparently, it)” plays more like Max Payne than Deus Ex.

Although WRC2is yet to have а US.

blish-

er, a third game is already in the works. Pla; online and map your own face onto the driv- er model with the aid of the Eye Toy camera.

WITH AN EYE (TOY) ON THE DANCE FLOOR Wondering what possible fun the Eye Toy could really be? Imagine what a dancing game could offer by watching you get your groove on. At least two teams are rumored to be working on concepts.

FINAL FANTASY XII

Final Fantasy + Matsuno = We can't wait!

some online elements (think down- loads, minigames, and more). The game is being overseen by Yasumi Matsuno (FF Tactics, Vagrant Story) and Hiroyuki Ito (FF/X]. Early spec- ulation has it likely to be a dark, broody affair, thanks to Matsuno’s influence. Early images that have appeared in job postings in Japan certainly imply something with more in common with FFIX (plenty of airships—although that's noth- ing new).

Vil-2

Keeping with the Square Enix news, | hear that Kingdom Hearts 2 is still possibly in question with Tetsuya Nomura and his chums. Why? Hold onto your hat here...it's because Nomura still really, really, really wants to do a proper sequel to Final Fantasy VII. Imagine something in the vein of FFX-2: same cast, amaz- ing visuals, and an extension of the story that everyone loves so much.

MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 Everyone seems to love Midnight Club 2 (editor-in-chief Davison especially), so it’s no surprise that rumors are already circulating about another sequel. For the third installment, expect customizable cars, greater emphasis on online play, and lots of drag racing.

SLY RETURNING?

Jak and Daxter are back, Ratchet & Clank are back...but what about Sly Cooper? I'm hearing that we may start to see early info on a Sly sequel by early 2004.

E-MAIL ME!

Got some good gaming gossip? If you hear anything juicy or get your hands on some cool

screens or pictures, send me an

e-mail at the following address:

Vazhar by Full Sail Graduate - Brian Germain

Die.

Real World Education

School of: Game Design апа

Development * Computer Animation * Digital Media * Film e Audio * Show Production

800.226.7625

www.fullsail.com

» Financial aid available to those who qualify. Job placement assistance. * Accredited college, ACCSCT.

3300 University Boulevard * Winter Park, FL 32792 © 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

Your PS2 plays more than games, you know.

i

ЖУАМ

THE ANIMATRIX

Nine new ways to jack into the Matrix

Matrix masterminds the Wachowski brothers know what side their bread is buttered on—The Matrix and its sequels may be massive pop- ular hits, but they're also something close to religion to a whole load

of geekoidial fanboys (and girls). For these, the brothers have sent a mash note in a language every geek can under- stand: anime. The Animatrix is an expansion of the Matrix universe by way of nine roughly 10-minute short films, cre- ated in varying animated styles (but most relating to anime in some way), and all nine inform and explore the Matrix in fascinating and sometimes surprising ways.

The segment that has gotten the most attention is actu- ally the most conventional: “The Final Flight of the Osiris,” the computer-animated segment created by Square. The computer-animated humans have gotten better since The

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

CLOSE CALL

Both Ewan MacGregor and Will Smith were approached to play Neo in The Matrix. And Val Kilmer nearly ended up as Morpheus.

Spirits Within, but the story is a straight-ahead segment setting the scene for Matrix Reloaded and the Enter the Matrix game. The varia- tions are more interesting: “The Second Renaissance” segments are

FANIMATALN) а horrifyingly graphic but compelling telling of the war

between humans and machines, while “Matriculated” sug-

gests another option for man and computer besides war. A

couple are pretty much what you expect storywise, but each comes with its own groovy visual style.

DVD extras focus on the animators, many of whom are anime superstars, including Shinichiro Watanabe, Koji Morimoto, and Mahiro Maeda; there’s also a preview for the Enter the Matrix game, as if you haven't bought it already. Movie Score: RERE DVD Extras Score: RERI

UPCOMING DVD RELEASES

June 3, 2003

About Schmidt

The Animatrix

Die Another Day

Empire Records

The Incredible Hulk: OTP. Invincible

South Park: Season 2 Star Trek DS9: Season 3

June 10, 2003

The Brady Bunch Movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 4

Murphy's Маг

Old School

Tears of the Sun

A Very Brady Sequel

June 17, 2003 Deliver Us From Eva Stargate SG-1: Season 3

June 24, 2003

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie Dark Shadows Collection 6 Freeway

The Hours

Just Married

Kangaroo Jack

Mutant X: Season 1, Disc 1 Punch Drunk love

ABOUT SCHMIDT

(Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates) Jack Nicholson is so identifiable that he is perhaps the only actor

in the history of film ever to get an Oscar nomination for playing the exact opposite of himself: Warren Schmidt is a retired actuary from Nebraska who has no interests and is wholly uninteresting, and to see Jack shoehorn into such a bland character must have tickled all his pals in the Academy to no end. What's really impressive is that Nicholson makes you feel for the guy, not because he’s Jack playing a schlub, but because Jack lets the schlub inside come out for a couple of hours, and he’s fascinating and sad all at once. It's a side of Nicholson you haven't seen before. The film also has a side of Kathy Bates you've never seen before either, but that's because she has a nude scene. Hey, she got an Oscar nod, too. Let's see you do that, naked in a hot tub. DVD extras:

a stack of deleted scenes.

Movie Score: PADS

DVD Extras Score: 8%

WELL, DUH

DID YOU KNOW?

Jennifer Hale, the voice of Elektra in Cowbo Bebop: The Movie, also played Emma in MGS.

Halle Berry and Kim Basinger are the only Bond girls with Oscars— but Basinger earned hers 15 years after her Bond appearance.

DELIVER US FROM EVA (LL Cool J, Gabrielle Union)

LL Cool J is one of those rapper/actors who is more fun to watch than most of the movies he’s in, so it's nice to have him show up in a film that's not like stabbing yourself in the eye with an unbent paper clip from start to finish. Eva is a perfectly nice take on The Taming of the Shrew, in which LL Cool J takes five grand to convince Eva (Gabrielle Union] he's in love with her. Yeah, tough gig. Absolutely nothing about this is original (уои know she'll find out, but they'll both eventually fall in love, blah blah blah], but it's nice enough, and given LL Cool J's track record, it could have been a lot worse. Extras load up on direc- tor commentary, videos, deleted scenes, and a making-of feature. Movie Score: 00%

DVD Extras Score: PAS

DIE ANOTHER DAY (Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry) James Bond has lately had a direct challenge to his spy-caper throne in the form of Vin Diesel and his traveling trunk of muscles. Die Another Day shows that you can poke holes in the Bond formula, but you can't really knock it down. Ever so slightly tougher than usual and featuring a Bond Girl (Halle Berry] who is so ass-kicking they're spinning her character off into her own series, Die chugs along with the usual world-domi- nating villains with silly headquar- ters and totally enjoyable action sequences. Plus, Brosnan keeps getting better. No one does Bond better than Bond; as long as you don't expect anything more from it than what it is, you should have no complaints. Nice extras, including separate commentaries from the director and Brosnan, a feature on the gadgets, a making-of for the opening sequence, a Madonna video, and a making-of for the Madonna video. Hey, Madonna:

Sit the hell down.

Movie Score: PADI

DVD Extras Score: PAG

THE INCREDIBLE HULK: ORIGINAL TELEVISION PREMIERE

(Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno) Back in day, Hulk not have Ang Lee and Jennifer Connelly! Hulk on TV! Was

Bill Bixby most of time! Not to men- tion trapped in for- mulaic plots! Hulk angry! Hulk want script approval! They not give!

Hulk smash trailer! Call agent! Agent say something about con- tract! Hulk confused! Now whole unpleasant TV show memory dredged up for quickie movie tie-in DVD! Hulk know that people buy only for DVD extras about Hulk movie special effects and introduc- tion by Lou Ferrigno! He no speak in show, why now speak?! Hulk sulk! Hulk want hug!

Movie Score: 6008

DVD Extras Score: PI

THE HOURS

(Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore) Nicole Kidman couldn't get an Oscar for playing a dancing hooker dying of tuberculosis, but she did get one for playing a suicidal author with a big fake nose. What lessons does this impart for today's actresses? Simply that if at first you don't succeed, die, die again. In fact, lots of death and suicides are attempted and completed in this film. There's also a lot of compli- cated and literary drama in the form of three separate story lines only tangentially related and yet somehow intimate with each other all the same. Kidman got her Oscar for being Virginia Woolf, but Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, who anchor their own segments, are no less effective. Not a cheerful film, but a good one; it deserved its Oscar buzz and then some. Kidman, Moore, and Streep offer commentary, and the DVD also offers four making-of featurettes. Movie Score: ®®®®

DVD Extras Score: & 4s»

JUST MARRIED (Ashton Kutcher, Brittany Murphy) Ashton Kutcher must be smarter than the characters he plays, because you could combine the 105 of the characters he plays in That 7705 Show; Dude, Where's My Саг?; and this film and still have lemurs running laps around the SAT scores. But that's his charm, | sup- pose: He's so goofily dim, it's hard to hold a deeply stupid film like this against him. And there's Brittany Murphy (playing the slightly smarter half of this dim-bulb duo), who has a nicely ditzy comedic pres- ence. | really want to hate this film, because it deserves to be hated for being so lame. But | just can't manage it. Damn you, Ashton Kutcher! DVD stuff: commen- tary, deleted scenes with commentary, making-of, and Comedy

Central features. Movie Score: && DVD Extras Score: 090%

OLD SCHOOL

(Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson)

Yeah, | have the dream that | go back to college and no one notices the bald spot, the wedding band, or the fact my memory stretches back before Avril Lavigne was a gamete. Be that as it may, it doesn't mean | actually want to go back to college; | might actually have to attend classes this time. So the conceit of Old School, in which guys—ahem— my age start up a fraternity and cause campus high jinks, just isn't working for me. But on the other

hand, | get a kick out of watching Will Ferrell make an ass of himself over and over again—he's the modern master of self-assface- ment, and it's a joy to watch some- one so committed to his craft, you know? So there's that. Overall, it's a wash. However, the DVD extras look amusing: A cast commentary is sure to be a hoot, as are send- ups of "Academy consideration" ads and Inside the Actor's Studio. Plus, there are the usual deleted Scenes and blooper reel.

Movie Score: &&4

DVD Extras Score: PAP

TEARS OF THE SUN (Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci) One of the rare action films that actually tries to be about some- thing—in this case, the horror of those genocides that flared up in Africa over the last few years. You remember those, right? No? Funny how the intermural slaughter of 800,000 friggin’ people just man- aged to slip past us, eh? Anyway, in this cheerful backdrop, Bruce Willis and his crew of kick-ass Special Ops soldiers drop in to save a doctor (Bellucci) and along the way develop vestigial соп- Sciousness about what's going on around them. Oh, don't worry, there's plenty of action and explo- sions to go with the Jiminy Cricket moments. In the end, it doesn't all quite gel, but thumbs up all around for the attempt. DVD extras include commentary from director Antoine Fuqua [Training Day], a fact file on Africa, deleted scenes, and writer's observations.

Movie Score: ФФФ

DVD Extras Score: 999999

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (4)

SOUND

STATION .....

Starring Wakeboarding Unleashed

The Greenhornes: Dual Mono

It sounds like all four members of the Green- hornes were trapped ina small room when they were children with. nothing to listen to but LPs of early the Who, Van Morrison's Them, and maybe the Smithereens, just to reassure them that it was not, in fact, actually 1966. The end result: An album your dad's older brother would really groove to—and so will you, if you can. dig its AM-quality modder- than-thou vibe. Highlight: the cool vamp "There is an End," with guest vocalist Holly Golightly. And if you get that joke, then this is the album for you.

Final Score: PAE

(2) Official US. PlayStation Magazine

"

Geils Band:

һе Morning After Recorded in an era in which a white man with a "fro and mutton- chop was apparently a sexy look, The Morning After is your basic soul-infused rock, which makes for some fine listening if you can't seem to locate that Blues Brothers CD you snagged from the bargain bin a couple years ago. The irony here is that J. Geils is the gen- uine article, while the Blues Brothers are fictional, but isn't that just popular culture for you. If all you know about J. Geils is that "Centerfold" song that's endlessly recycled on Lite Rock, this will be a wel- come change of pace. Final Score: PADI

Pavement: Crooked Rain Crooked Rain Pavement is one of the most influ- ential indie bands of the 1990s— meaning that while every record-store clerk in every college town reveres them, the band didn't make enough money in an entire decade to move out of their parents’ basements. Crooked Rainis as close as they got to the mainstream, and it’s not really all that close, aside from “Cut Your Hair,” which fairly seethes with resentment at being mar- ginally conventional. It's your usual batch of “this could be a decent song if we didn’t inten- tionally fiddle with it just to be difficult” tracks.

Final Score: PAPI

The Pixies: Doolittle The Pixies were every bit as indie and difficult as ли Pavement, = yet never- theless strangely more acces- sible—possibly because Black Francis was so clearly beamed in from another planet that you couldn't hold his freakish- ness against him. Or maybe it's because the Pixies actually tossed off a hit or two without sneering antipathy. Doolittle has the sing-songy “Here Comes Your Man” and the deeply weird “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” the song that had late "805 college stoners won- dering, “If man is five, the devil is six, and God is seven, like, who is eight?” The answer: Kim Deal, of course.

Final Score: PARDI

photo from Getty Images

С «fa

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CO ) Van Haleg: OD". Fair Warning ye v It's one of ‘oe.

the Roth-era Van Halen's lesser efforts, but that still makes it better than just about any Hagar-era disc. (Obviously, let us never speak of Gary Cherone.) Nonetheless, Fair Warning has the infectious, stupid bounciness of Roth, rock's answer to a sexually excitable Labrador retriever. Plus, there's Eddie, who's still the best living rock guitarist (much to the shame of every other rock guitarist in the last two decades). And when the two of them hit, like they do here with "Unchained," you can't stop them. No, you can't. Don't try. You'll hurt yourself. Final Score: PADI

After five long years of silence, Valve spills the beans, and has the first details on

© Pick up the June issue to NM ЗУ t read all about the biggest ГАЛ | =) 5 t sequel of our lives!

WINNING STRATEGIES: BF194? s THE SIMS ONLINE | PUTER |

+ New сло of info screens revealed! of Honor: Pacific Assault,

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COMPUTER LOOK FOR CGW #227, FEATURING:

* GIANT PREVIEWS BLOWOUT OF HALF-LIFE 2, JEDI KNIGHT: JEDI ACADEMY, AND WORLD OF WARCRAFT 3

WORLD WARREN SPECTOR ON DEUS EX 2 * 23 REVIEWS, INCLUDING FROM RAINBOW SIX 3: RAVEN SHIELD AND LASER SQUAD NEMESIS

IN COMPUTER GAMING ON-SALE JUNE 3, 2003

THE FIRST MAG AND THE LAST WORD

One day, after much training, this charts-page editor will become a ninja. He will sneak around, just like in Tenchu, and steal the top spot on the charts. No one will expect it. Because he'll be a ninja.

last Title/ Month Publisher Rating Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (Activision) DDS 2 The Getaway (Sony CEA) DIDID Def Jam: Vendetta (EA Big) ФФФФ 2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar) 6 Xenosaga: Episode 1-Der Wille Zur Macht (Namco) ®@®® 4 Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses (Konami) BRI MVP Baseball 2003 (EA Sports] BRST 14 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs [Sony CEA] Dynasty Warriors 4 (Koei) %%%%8 20 МВА Street (EA Sports Big] 15 Gran Turismo 3: A-spec (Sony CEA) 3 The Sims (EA Games] ФФФФ -- Асе Combat 04: Shattered Skies (Namco] DIDDI 11 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (Ubi Soft) DORI Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Universal) DEDI The Simpsons: Road Rage (EA Games) ФФФ NFL 2K3 (Sega Sports] %9%%98 16 МахРаупе (Rockstar) BROS -- ATV Offroad Fury (Sony CEA] %%%%

Јак and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Sony CEA)

7

MVP Baseball 2003

Ace Combat 04

Dynasty Warriors 4

Source: NPDFunworld TRSTS Service, March 2003. Call them at 516.625.6190 for questions about this list. No games for competing console systems [е.д., Xbox, GameCube] were included. Overall sales fig- ures may vary. Game descriptions written by the OPM staff.

69) Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Ult.Battle22 Infogrames Mortal Kombat Trilogy Midway

Shrek: Treasure Hunt TDK Bratz Ubi Soft Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden | Konami Namco Museum VoL. 3 Namco Beyblade Crave Tony Hawk 2 Activision

SpongeBob SquarePants THQ Spyro: Year of Dragon Sony CEA

Arc the Lad Sony Tenchu 3 From Software Super Robot Taisen Banpresto Master of the Drum 2 Namco Doko Demo Issyo Sony Nechu Baseball 2003 Namco Convenience Store 3 Hamster Galaxy Angels Broccoli „hack Vol. 4 Bandai WRC ІІ Extreme Spike

Rockstar

Midnight Club II (PS2)

Splinter Cell (PS2) Ubi Soft Def Jam: Vendetta(PS2) ЕА Big X2: Wolverine's Rev. Activision SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Sony DBZ: Budokai Atari LOTR: Two Towers EA Games The Sims EA Games High Heat MLB 2004 3DO The Getaway Sony CEA SOURCE: BLOCKBUSTER, WEEK ENDING APRIL 20, 2003 Zelda: Wind (GC) Nintendo Pokémon Ruby (GBA) Nintendo Pokémon Sapph. (GBA) Nintendo Tenchu: Wrath (Р52) Activision The Getaway (PS2) Sony CEA Def Jam: Vendetta (PS2) ЕА Big GTA: Vice City (PS2) Rockstar

Xenosaga: Episode 1 (PS2) Namco Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists (PS2) Konami MVP Baseball '03 (PS2) EA Sports

Enter the Summe

In our playstationmagazine.com poll, we asked which summer movie game gets you the hottest. “Enter the Matrix,” you said. Then you went back to listening to your Bananarama cassingles.

TERMINATOR 3

о CHARLIE'S ANGELS

THE HULK FINDING NEMO

Get Your Games on eBay

The ultimate auction site sells more than just oversized Chee-tos.

ANOTHER VIDEOGAME SELLS ON eBAY EVERY 8 SECONDS

CONSOLE SELLS ON eBAY EVERY 30 SECONDS

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LOOK FOR THESE SPECIAL ISSUES ON NEWSSTANDS EVERYWHERE!

I un

From the same people who bring you Electronic Gaming Monthly, GameNOW, Computer Gaming World, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, and GMR. These special magazines can be found only on newsstands or through back order.

Look for Xbox Nation, EGM Guides: GTA: Vice City, and Pocket Games at Borders, Waldenbooks, Barnes and Noble, B. Dalton, Babbages, GameStop, Funcoland, Walmart, Kmart,

Target, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger and Safeway.

g ZIFF DAVIS MEDA

GAME GROUP

ELECTRONIC CAMING

== MONTHLY

Welcome to the jungle, baby!

JPREVIEWS

METAL GEAR SOLID 3 SNAKE EATER

What i ith that ? THIS ISSUE a АЕ ше aurait

snake eating—or, indeed, Snake eating—in Metal Gear Solid 3. We do

64 Battlestar Galactica have plenty of evidence, though, that Hideo Kojima will continue his 67 Beyond Good & Evil efforts to impress our pants off. A brief glimpse at the spectacular

62 Buffy Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds screenshots on these pages proves one point quite loudly and clearly: 60 Castlevania: Lament of Innocence MGS3 significantly forwards the already amazing graphics of MGS2.

69 Chain Gang The “accelerated” development period has the game arriving as

60 Сһапіе5 Angels "soon" as next fall, and you сап bet your bottom dollar you'll see cov- 66 Crash Nitro Kart erage of this baby just about every month between now and then

74 Disgaea: Hour of Darkness We've received few gameplay details so far, but we do know one thing: 67 Dogs Life This time, it's all about the camouflage with comments made that

74 Drakengard “the jungle is your enemy”. We can’t wait.

70 FIFA 2004 : Копа : Konami Release Date: Fall 2004 73 Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels 62 Futurama

NOT JUST SOLDIERS

68 Gladius

65 The Great Escape The jungle is your enemy

63 Нату Potter: Quidditch World Сир Snake will interact far more with his 68 Headhunter: Redemption environment than ever before. He can 75 Ісе Nine

1 eat plants and animals to survive, and е can apply face paint to make his camouflage even more effective ч Жаа. т Ne wx т «

64 The Italian Job

"S лж

\ -4 Legacy of Kain: Defiance

72 Lethal Skies II

61 Lord of Rings: Return of the King 61 Lord of Rings: Treason of Isengard 65 Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

56 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 67 NASCAR Thunder 2004

70 МВА 2K4

70 МВА Live 2004

67 NCAA College Basketball 2K4

71 NCAA Final Four 2004

71 МСАА Football 2004

71 NCAA GameBreaker 2004

71 NCAA March Madness 2004

70 NFL 2K4

69 NHL 2004

67 Prince of Persia: Sands of Time 74 Romance of the Three Kindgoms VIII 65 Secret Weapons Over Normandy 67 Shrek 2: The Game

62 Тһе Simpsons: Hit & Run

67 Тһе Sims: Bustin’ Out

72 Spawn

66 Spy vs. Spy

64 Star Trek: Shattered Universe

68 Street Racing Syndicate

69 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004

66 Vectorman

60 Virtual On: Marz

63 Worms 3D

63 Тһе X-Files: Resist or Serve

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

75

STEALTHY

61

MAGICAL

EN Gandalf kicks some ass Laugh it up in Chain Gang First-person Splinter Cell? Уже іп The Return of the King. from the developer of Gex. Ice Nine enters with a BAM!

SPLISH SPLASH

Water effects make it more real

The funky particle effects mean wading through the water looks particularly real- istic. Also... wait until you see the bullets. hitting the water. Oh. My. God.

Camouflage is a big part of Snake Eater, and the concept of hiding in plain sight plays a major role in the game.

IT'S ALL CURVY

Organic environments a go-go Previous Metal Gear Solids have relied heavily on environments constructed essentially of grids and corridors. Snake Eater completely changes things by pro- viding open, organic environments that look like superdetailed SOCOM levels.

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine @)

We know he's “Dave,” but Dave what? Perhaps it's Dave Eater?

БЬ АСА Й METAL GEAR SOLID 3 HERE'S DAVE? Konami reinvents Where's Waldo? in this screenshot?

So big it needed a third page! фе [continued from previous page] The last time we gave a game this much space in Previews was for Metal Gear Solid 2!

Snake gets all Rambo on our asses.

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

www.gamers.com Check for news on the new Metal Gear Solid. There will be more info there when you read this!

Remember what we said about bullet splashes on the previous page?

Order these back issues to make sure that you have a complete reference library of the most valuable tricks, cheats, and codes for all the top games on your console.

Xbox Nation. Premiere Issue $1200

$1200 $1200

Xbox Nation. м $1200 $12.00 $12.00 $12.00

"DOCKET: games

T

LÜRD OF THERINGS ж

THE TWO TOWERS

Pocket Games Pocket Games 7 Pocket Games 10 Summer 2001 FallWinter 2001 Sung 2002 Summer 2002 Falli Winter 2002 $1200 $1200 512. 51200 51200

2003 Holiday EGM Guides #1: EGM Guides 82: EGM's GameCube Game Guide Super Mario Sunshine GTA: Vice City Guide Winter 2002-03 $12.00 $12.00 $12.00 $12.00

HOW TO ORDER:

Simply check off which magazines you want and send in the order form (photocopies acce along with a check made payable to Ziff Davis Media, for the amount inc 1 for each magazine

plus shipping and handling—add $3 for U.S., $3 for Can and $5 for foreign orders- in U.S. funds only for each magazine! Orders should be mailed to Back Issues, 1411 Opus Place, Ste. 340, Downers Grove. IL 60515 Price and availability subject to change without notice

LOTS OF POLYGONS

In their cinematic cut-scenes, each virtual Angel is made up of 45,000 polygons.

PREVI EWS Шен 15 Баски!а!

CASTLEVANIA LAMENT OF INNOCENCE Or lament the death of 2D

Well, here it is folks, the new Castlevania for PS2. And yup, just as we revealed a few issues back, it's entirely 3D. Don't care about the death of 2D gaming? Good, because there's little here to be worried about. Those who do care can take comfort in the fact that this is being developed by Koji Igarashi and his Symphony of the Night team. And he swears this will be the best Castlevania yet.

What we've seen so far has us believing. In motion, it looks a bit like Devil May Cry, but the emphasis is on adventure (the map once again returns]. Believe it or not, it's the music that has us most impressed. It's from Symphony composer Michiru Yamane, so it sounds very similar to her previous masterpiece. Except it's even better.

Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Release Date: November

VIRTUAL ON: MARZ

It has a cult following, thanks to several iterations in arcades and on deceased Sega platforms, but Virtual On finally hits the big time with Marz. Picture Armored Core with an emphasis on all-out shooting асоп--115 fast, arcadey, and loads of fun. Тһе best part? Тһе con- trols can be configured so that the DualShock’s analog thumbsticks work just like the “twin sticks” on the arcade unit!

= ENVIRONMENTS

Oh, the places you'll go So far we've seen a library and a church hall-filled with spiderwebs.

Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega (Hitmaker) Release Date: October

BIG BOSSES

You ain't seen nothin’ yet Just wait until you face some of these new 3D monstrosities.

CHARLIE'S ANGELS

Though it features virtual incarnations of real-life Angels Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore, Ubi Soft's new game isn't based on the film Full Throttle. Instead, it's a beat-em-up with a new story line [a maniac billionaire is stealing the world's famous monuments] that allows the girls plenty of opportunity to kick ass. The coolest part? You can switch between Angels on the fly.

Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Ubi Soft Release Date: June

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Long time coming? Yep. But fans of Fry and his fellow 31st-century misfits shouldn't mind much. After all, Fry had to wait 1,100 years to get a life, so what's the rush? A third-person shooter, Futurama lets you take control of Leela, Bender, and Fry as you battle through 25 levels. The game also includes original dialogue, cinematics, and music from the TV show's creative team.

Publisher: Sierra Developer: UDS Release Date:

THE SIMPSONS: HIT & RUN

Take The Simpsons: Road Rage, add the capability to exit your vehicle and wander freely through Springfield (including building interiors], and mix in nearly 60 missions in which you control Homer, Bart, Apu, Marge, or Lisa. What do you get? We'll call it Grand Theft Auto: Springfield and let you figure it out. Oh, don't worry—Radical made Road Rage; The S Skateboarding was from someone else.

Publish Fox Interactive Developer: Radical Release Dat

С) Official US. PlayStation Magazine

LORD OF THE RINGS THE TREASON OF ISENGARD

The Two Towers, renamed According to a Black Label representative, J.R.R. Tolkien's desired title for the second book of The Lord of the Rings was actually The Treason of Isengard—thus [with a little help from an already released EA game] the title change for a game that covers the events of The Two Towers. Treason represents a dramatic departure from Black Label's last LOTR game, based on The Fellowship of the Ring. As well as updated character models, a new game engine, and two-player co-op throughout, Treason features three types of gameplay: hack-n-slash for Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir, and Gimli; stealth for Sam and Gollum lyes, Gollum!); and a top-secret gameplay device starring a top-secret character you can use during the storming of Isengard. (Think BIG!) Publisher: Black Label Games Developer: Surreal Release Date: Fall

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

www.themareks.com/xf/ Confused about the sequence of major events in The X-Files? Visit this timeline!

pa

\ JUST LIKE THE SHOW

And just as you remembered it

! Мете glad to see X-Files authenticity in Resist or Serve—everything from char- acter likenesses and voices to Mulders trademark UFO poster.

THE X-FILES RESIST OR SERVE

The conspiracy continues

And you thought David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were done with The X-Files. Television's favorite creepy-crime duo returns—along with pretty much anyone else you ever saw on the show (Skinner, the Smoking Man, the Lone Gunmen, and more)—to voice their roles іп Resist or Serve. A license like The X-Files makes perfect sense for this game's survival-horror style. Set up as a series of three episodes that never aired during the show's pre-Doggett seventh season, the story sends Mulder and Scully everywhere from a small town in the Rockies to the bitter cold of Siberia. Revelations involving the mysterious black oil are prornised, as are plenty of jump-out-of-your-seat frightening moments. Play this one alone and with the lights off.

Publisher: Sierra/Fox Interactive Developer: Black Ops Release Date: Late Summer

Date of release for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the series' fifth book

HARRY POTTER: QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP

If you were wondering why the Quidditch™ segments of previous Harry Potter games weren't exactly full-featured, this game is the reason Now, you can really get your game on. Smack the Quaffle™ ог chase

the Golden Snitch™ as you represent any of the four Hogwarts! Houses [you know: Gryffindor™, Slytherin™, Ravenclaw™, or Hufflepuff™), or play as teams from other countries Publisher: EA Games Developer: EA UK Release Date: Fall

Hon

WORMS 3D

Strategy fans, this is your lucky day. One of the quirkiest, funniest, and

most addictive turn-based strategies is making an appearance on the

P52, jumping from its 2D roots to full 3D. If you're not familiar with the franchise, it's a mostly projectile-based дате of annelid combat, featuring such delightful weapons as the Holy Hand Grenade and Exploding Sheep, all set in randomly generated environments. Publisher: Sega Developer: Team 17 Release Date: Fall

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (63)

Where no games * | GOATEE = EVIL have gone before 2 | Тһе mirror universe in Shattered Universe is (and a few have). | taken from an actual Star Trek episode.

THE ITALIAN JOB

Paramount's film remake of the '60s flick The Italian Job essentially co-opts the original movie's plot and trademark use of the MiniCooper, and then does its own thing. Eidos’ remake of Rockstar's stellar driving game based on the first film essentially does the same thing. Look for the same fast-paced racing and stunt missions, but expect them to feel totally different, thanks to a different developer. Publisher: Eidos Developer: Climax Release Date: Summer

ний, “irmi | уз, ПЕ 4222 CIS ү мл М КОО li oe мас Ул 94

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Battlestar Galactica celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a minis- eries on the Sci Fi Channel and this, its first videogame. We think it'll be а good one, too, with Warthog developing the game їп а style similar to its awesome Star Trek: Invasion (which itself resembles Colony Wars]. You play the role of a young William Adama in his first mission aboard Battlestar Galactica, 40 years before the events of the TV show.

Publisher: Universal Interactive Developer: Warthog Release Date: Fall

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

STAR TREK SHATTERED UNIVERSE

Trek's gone twisted

Pop quiz: When did OPM last run a preview of Shattered Universe? If you guessed more recently than 24 issues ago, please punch yourself in the face. That's right—this game has been in limbo for the past two years. But it's back on the radar courtesy of a new publisher in TDK, and judging from these screenshots, there's a chance it may be worth the wait. Certainly, the premise should excite any Trek fan: You pick up where Star Trek Vl: The Undiscovered Country left off, piloting Sulu's Excelsior through the “mirror” universe in which all rules—and allegiances—are the opposite of our own. (It's where Spock had the goatee, remember?) You commandeer 10 all-new fighter craft in 19

levels of gameplay. So screw the Prime Directive—go blow stuff up!

iactive Developer: StarSphere Release Date: September

ENGAGE

This is not your father's Federation You're not likely to see a ship named the 155 Ruthless in our universe.

Big, wavy orange lines: Wormhole debris or galactic stink bomb? Discuss.

| Еш

еліге 1 DID YOU KNOW? The Great Escape’s all-star ч у ' cast included Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn.

KAMIKAZE! Derived from the Japanese words meaning divine wind (kami, divine + kaze, wind), it refers to the name of the legendary typhoon of 1281 that saved Japan by destroying the Mongol navy.

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Kamikaze fighters come crashing down

Just as Frontline helped gamers understand the madness of storming Normandy Beach, Rising || Sun introduces the brutality of Pearl Harbor. |

THE GREAT ESCAP

Don't feel bad if you've never seen The Great Escape—the film debuted back in "63. It speaks a lot for the WWII-set classic, though, that enough interest exists four decades later to adapt it to a videogame. As four of the film's great escapees—including a spitting image of the late Steve McQueen as Hilts—you use stealth, solve puzzles, and relive the classic motorcycle finale.

Publisher: Gotham Games Developer: Pivotal Games Release Date: July

MEDAL OF HONOR RISING SUN

You're not alone anymore

You may have HBO so you can watch The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, or Da Ali G Show, but if you missed the epic miniseries Band of Brothers, rent the DVDs on your way home—it's perfect source

material to prep you for Rising Sun. Remember when the PS2's "Emotion Engine" was its big selling point? Rising Sun proves

it still is. In two-player co-op mode, you either watch your best mate's back or he gets pulverized. The new four-player splitscreen Deathmatch and Team modes satisfy the lust for head-to-head action, but the deep plot is plenty enjoyable by yourself. Every soldier has a story. What will yours be?

5

^m. SECRET WEAPONS OVER NORMANDY YOU'RE NOT ALONE If you owned a decent PC in the mid 905, you probably played at least

one game in Totally Games’ excellent X-Wing/TIE Fighter series. Now, We promise, theres backup the studio brings its space-combat expertise closer to Earth with the Dol iy see a dismal One er Iesu World War Il-themed Secret Weapons. You pilot planes from the oe eben pum Allied, German, and Japanese fleets, including the P-51 Mustang, you against Japan. That would suck. the Me 163 Komet, and the B-17 Flying Fortress. Publisher: LucasArts Developer: Totally Games Release Date: Fall

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

= \ Fs |

We just hope ) Фо» Crash doesn't LN Sa x ЭГЧ REMEMBER WHEN? strike out. PS et pe al Vectorman looked like this!

шиний CRASH NITRO KART

Swinging for the fences

"From now on, every Crash game is swinging for the fences," pro- claims Vivendi Universal Producer David Robinson (who looks disap- pointingly nothing like the NBA legend]. This second PS2 project in the iconic marsupials post-Naughty Dog era dares to follow in the footsteps of Crash Team Racing, considered by many to be the all-time greatest kart racer not starring a plumber.

Crash Nitro Kart obviously bests its predecessor in terms of graph- ics, and nearly all the characters in the Crash universe are available to race in the evil Emperor Velo's tournament. The 17 tracks span four unique worlds replete with weaponry like homing missiles, mines, and tornadoes. As ho-hum as this may sound, Nitro does feature one thing we've never seen in a non-online racer: eight-character multiplayer! Does it actually work? We'll have to wait and se Publisher: Universal Interactive Developer: Vicarious Visions Release Date: Fall

SPY VS. SPY With all the shades of gray in the world, it’s nice to see some clear- cut black-and-white Cold War shenanigans. Fans of MAD Magazine's classic cartoon capers can go head-to-head against three other play- ers in 12 levels of wacky action, with shooting, platforming, and strat- egy elements. Three other players? Yep—now, there's a Gray Spy and a Mech Spy, too. Oh, how the world has changed.

Publisher: TDK Mediactive Developer: Way Forward Release Date: Spring 2004

айы. БЫ These tracks go all over Throughout Crash Nitro Kart, expect lots

of loop-de-loops and similar difficulties along the road.

TIME

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| clock tower level. ЖАСЫ Uf

VECTORMAN

Popular during the latter days of the Sega Genesis, Vectorman is revived in this third-person shooter. Technology has been good to our hero: Whereas he once looked like a bunch of balls stuck together, һе now sports a badass mech exterior. He also comes equipped with impressive firepower that can destroy just about everything onscreen, putting even Red Faction's Geo-Mod engine to shame.

Publisher: Sega Developer: Pseudo Interactive Release Date: Spring 2004

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

QUITE A LEGACY

For 1989, Prince of Persia featured some amazingly lifelike running animations. Its gameplay rocked, too.

WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THE NIETZSCHE?

Beyond Good & Evil is yet another reference to one of

German philosopher Nietzsche's seminal works.

WIDE LOAD

Because bigger is better

No, we didn't crop these

screens funny. The entire Ў game is set in widescreen.

GOOD & EVIL

So that's what "BG&E" stands for!

Last year, we found the mysterious Project BG&E to be one of the more pleasant surprises on the E? show floor. Having now seen more of the game in action, we're sticking to our early assessment. From French game creator Michel Ancel (head homme behind the first two Rayman games], Beyond Good & Evil is a sprawling platform adventure complete with a plucky lead character, a wacky sidekick, an epic story, and а staggering array of gameplay types. Best of all, it seems Ancel and his team are well on their way to creating yet another well-realized world for us to get lost in—one that undulates with life and energy beyond the bounds of your typical interactive romp.

DON'T BE A HOG |

Jade has to share the screen You can switch between Jade and her piggy pal to solve puzzles.

SHREK 2: THE GAME Publisher: Activision/ TDK Developer: Luxoflux Release Date: 2004 Shrek 2 isn't due in theaters for another year...but let the hype begin! Of course, this platform game will be released right along with the movie.

NASCAR THUNDER 2004 Publisher: EA Sports Developer: Tiburon

Release Date: September Now with grudges and alliances, Thunder won't let you drive like a total ass. Plus, it’s online—you now “race the pack, not the track.”

NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL 2K4 Publisher: Sega Sports Developer: Kush Games Release Date: Fall

Last season's best college b-ball returns with a new Create-A- School feature. Finally, the Bell

End State Dongs.

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Ubi Soft Montreal Release Date: Fall

The studio that made Splinter Cell resurrects a classic puzzle-based adventure. Think: Arabian Tomb Raider.

THE SIMS: BUSTIN’ OUT Publisher: EA Games Developer: Maxis

Release Date: Early 2004 Get out of the house with the new Sims! Our favorite part? Twelve new careers, including mobster, athlete, and rock star. Superb.

DOGS LIFE >< Publisher: Sony CEE Developer: Sony CEE Release Date: Fall (Europe) You play as a dog named Jake and search for your kid- napped friend Daisy. Gameplay involves smelling things. Sounds...interesting.

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

WHAT'S THAT MEAN? "Gladius" is the name of the land you traverse, but it's also a type of Roman blade used in gladiator fights.

HEADHUNTER: REDEMPTION We're not exactly sure what Redemption refers to in the title to Sega's Headhunter sequel—we just hope it at least partly indicates that RECRUIT ANYONE Amuze is “redeeming” the sloppy controls and shoddy camera that Yeah, even this guy h kept its predecessor from the ranks of the best PS2 games. Jack ee dE B ae Wade returns to his near-future bounty-hunting ways along with ERG ККК О Reo Leer hiSsprotege, Whom yos ee Tee can even add a skeleton to your party! Publisher: Sega Developer: Amuze Release Date: Fall MERO 27

ні GLADIUS

LucasArts' biggest in-house game ever Who would have thought that LucasArts’ biggest in-house project ever would have nothing to do with Star Wars? As many as 60 people have been working simultaneously on Gladius, so you can expect one big turn-based strategy/RPG. We're told it takes—if you do the bare

ї

minimum required—at least 35 hours to complete each of the game's "

two adventures [one for the male character Valens, one for the female Ursula]. But it can take many, many more hours should you choose to pursue the side quests. Both stories take you on a journey through

the fantastic land of Gladius, where your band of gladiators starts out simply traveling from town to town competing in matches to make ends meet, but soon finds itself on a quest to save the world. Gladius has all the makings of a winne! it yourself on next month's demo disc!

Publisher: LucasArts Developer: lelease Date: August

"m

: ES : A d STREET RACING SYNDICATE KE Ч POPULARITY What's the one thing Midnight Club Il fans want? If you said, “I want to Веа геа! crowd pleaser customize my cars, dammit!” you're not alone. It looks like 3DO is - EN - Р Depending on the town you fight in,

the crowd reacts differently to your

beating Rockstar to the punch with SRS, a gritty street racer that fighting methods —their cheers ог

allows full customization of your licensed vehicles. That's right—you jeers can influence your success. can drive and tweak a Toyota MR2 Spyder, a Celica GTS, a Mazda Learning what kind of style given RX-8, a Lexus 15300, and many more. And you can also gamble babes. 5 3 ә х townsfolk prefer can mean the differ.

Publisher: 300 Developer: Eutechnyx Release Date: July 5 с ence between victory and defeat.

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Redmond is an original character, but Spanx made Stanley Cup Finals didn't feature one of the | his debut in the so-so Mad Dash Racing for Xbox. West's Big 3, Colorado, Detroit, or Dallas.

CHAIN GANG

Laugh it up, fuzzballs

Comedy is tough to pull off in a platform game, but the developer of Gex may actually have something for us to laugh at with Chain Gang. The key? Political incorrectness. Set in a lab, Chain Gang puts you in control of a weasel-like creature named Spanx who's bent on revenge against the cosmetics testers who've held him captive for most of his life. On the loose, he wields a chain as a weapon—a weapon to which the rabbit Redmond happens to be attached.

At his least masochistic, Spanx uses Redmond like a ball at the end of a flail, whacking scientists and destroying expensive machinery. That doesn't mean he can't also use the bunny to lessen a fall [Spanx twirls Redmond like Rayman uses his ears] or to float to a higher level by filling him with helium. Our favorite: Burning Redmond in a furnace

DID YOU KNOW? 4 The last year (before this one) that the

<y чу 7%.

A СО В ын POOR REDMOND He takes all the abuse Spanx uses him as a weapon, experi- mentation has made him immune to pain, and the chain around his left foot is so tight, it has turned it blue!

NHL 2004

In recent years, EA's once-ballyhooed (and now virtually forgotten) NHL series has gone down the crapper faster than this year’s Western Conference powerhouses. But, hopeful Canadians, there's great news: N л и » Black Box—with its team of hockey studs who've made NHL Hitz such

Ч " a puerile joy—is taking the reigns, hoping to be the Jean-Sebastian Giguere that will topple NHL 2K4. We'll see if EA can get Giggy with it. Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada/Black Box Release Date: Fall

E WHAT IS SPANX?

Only Crystal Dynamics knows for sure Or does it? “He doesn't even know what he is!” responds a Crystal D rep when

we ask what Spanx is.

TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 2004

Anyone who tells you Tiger Woods isn't the best golf game оп PS2 hasn't played it—or at least hasn't played it long enough to get the hang of the excellent (though unusual) swing control. 2004 features seven new courses [five real-life and two fantasy) and five new

ШЕ he helium = TRIS сете playable PGA pros (though we're not yet sure who). No word yet UE inflate Redmond and float upward! on online play, but we've got our fingers crossed. E za Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EASports Release Date: Fall

Official US. PlayStation Magazine О)

NBA LIVE 2004

Оп the comeback trail, Live 2003 turned heads last season with a complete overhaul of the previous Live disasters. Expect an equally bitchin’ jump this season. The right-analog Freestyle moves are even tighter, and a completely new Dynasty mode is, for the first time, worth trying out. Other additions include retired jerseys that hang from the stadium rafters. What more do you need?

Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EACanada Release Date: September

ES

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NBA 2K4

If you have one gripe about NBA 2K3, you probably think it's slow. You're right—it is slow. Even diehards who like the deliberate pace would love a more up-tempo game. With 2K4, you not only get faster, quicker play- ers, but you also get a fast break that finally works (in part because the new passing model doesn't slow you down]. There are also wicked behind-the-back passes and some of the meanest dunks imaginable.

Publisher: Sega Sports Developer: Visual Concepts Release Date: Fall

НҒА 2004

With Winning Eleven nipping at—or, quite frankly, devouring—F/FA's cleats, the graphics masters at EA Sports have turned the latest іп the company’s long-running soccer franchise into another interna- tional eye-candyfest. Finally, there's a workable Career mode where you can take a club team through the ranks and sign players. But will the gameplay compete with Winning Eleven's? Our early guess: No. Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada Release Date: October

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Visual Concepts’ magic words

Since NFL 2K3 was scorched by last year’s Madden (much like the Raiders were pounded in the Super Bowl], the many minds at Visual Concepts have boiled their gamemaking philosophy down to four key elements: fun, polish, mass-market appeal, and attitude. NFL 2K4's tangible excitement proves they've made good on their motto: “Bring back the fun!" The redone Play Call menu now mirrors Madden's—smart move. Another great maneuver is putting the new juke system on the right analog stick: You can now wiggle away from defenders using a wide series of moves, and the animations are seamless. There's also far more ESPN integration (maybe even ESPN personalities, though none are confirmed], and we love the Fantasy Football feature that lets you put together and play with a fantasy team of your own conception.

Publisher: Sega Sports Developer: Visual

ETE

I

This screen features next year's league leader in rushing. Or so we say. Let us be the first to congratulate Denver Broncos running back Clinton Portis.

JUKE STICK Get creative with the right analog

4 If you really want to get live with special moves, the right analog stick makes it happen. You can stop-and-start, cut, spin, and really make the D miss.

кар Я. 036

LOTTO? vou won the No. 1 pick in the NBA lottery Do you take Syracuse stud Carmelo Anthony or high- schooler LeBron James? We'll take Carmelo, thanks.

OVERHEARD "| have been playing this videogame since

| was a kid but never thought | would end up on the cover.” —Heisman winner/ NCAA cover athlete Carson Palmer

GO DEEP!

New camera adjusts on the fly

Look at this pump fake. Now, when the

QB rolls to the right, the camera pans Ё ~ subtly, showing all of the field. This way

you won't lose a receiver offscreen.

NCAA MARCH MADNESS 2004 The makers of March Madness have made some changes to the weakest series in the EA Sports lineup (although we might change that opinion if we knew anything about rugby). The goal? A franchise as great as the PS1 series, with one addition: Dick Vitale. Besides Dicky V. shouting and spitting in full throat about diaper dandies, you can also dive for loose balls and get it on at the Maui Invitational. Which is cool...sort of. Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada/NuFX Release Date: October

FOOTBALL 2004

EA has the spirit

Love Madden all you want, but the wide-open excitement of NCAA Football always awakens our school spirit. We've played the new NCAA

and we're hooked. The play action (referred to last year as "sack Bae NCAA FINAL FOUR 2004 action”) has been reconfigured: After the ball is snapped and the fake g ү at 5 After yet another jaw-dropping NCAA Tournament, it's good to know handoff happens, the camera momentarily follows the running back so 22724 ү: М : n that in Final Four, KU fans get another shot at Syracuse. The online the safeties and corners bite on your well-timed trickery. Another Ў 3 SENA 5 9 Нен element of 989'5 latest is massive, including user-hosted tourneys, bonus: А subtle camera shift follows the ОВ on rollouts. It's brilliant. In 1 : 5 nS Я message boards, user mail, buddy lists, and stat tracking. You can addition, the animations are faster and the crowd blows up for big plays $ Ч ^ қ i even tap into a lobby using your PC. The question now is whether the on both sides of the ball. If you play a great game, the stats are saved in s E gameplay is worth a letter of intent.

your user records. Plus, it’s online. Yes! = Publisher: ЕА Sports Developer: Ti Publisher: Sony CEA. Developer: 989 Sports Release Date: November E s E

йл «| х.

4

NCAA GAMEBREAKER 2004

Looking for an alternative to EA's NCAA Football 2004 seems, to us, CLUTCH & GRAB ridiculous. But if you simply must play a different college football Horse collars are in! 2 game this year, this is the lone alternative (and the only screenshots The new tackling animations in NCAA available are mascot shots like this опе!). 989 puts you online with те. Our personal favorite is getting leader boards, in-game chat, buddy lists, and online tourneys. But DUI Gom Irem bel ead ноос even as we write this, we're daydreaming about EA's college pigskin. À

the jersey stay intact? d = 2 = m Publisher: Sony CEA Developer: 989 Sports Release Date: August. !

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (2) 1

> DID YOU KNOW? è» Michael Bell, the voice of Raziel in the Soul Reaver Vae Victis! games, was also the voice of Grouchy Smurf.

LEGACY OF KAIN DEFIANCE Kain and Raziel May Cry

Feedback from fans and critics on Soul Reaver 2 and Blood Omen 2 told Crystal Dynamics one thing: No one really loved the first two PS2 Legacy of Kain games. Few people expressed true dislike for them, but the applause Crystal Dynamics was used to receiving for the fran- chise's PS1 titles was nowhere to be found.

The result? This year's entry to the series, Defiance, represents a total change in direction. While it stars both Raziel and Kain (each plays slightly differently than the other], the gameplay more closely resem- bles Devil May Cry than Soul Reaver or Blood Omen. The developer also Cites /со as an inspiration for the architecture and camera angles. It's а whole new way to experience the world of Nosgoth.

Release Date: No

SPAWN

| ж This one wasn’t hard to spot coming, was it? Now that McFarlane À - E Productions is all friendly with Namco [check out OPM 869 for a look | LOOK FAMILIAR? at Namco’s sweet Soul Calibur І! toys), а new Spawn game seems like | Love that carpet pattern

When we see this ornate decor, we can't ' help but think of Voradors mansion

from the first Blood Omen. Perhaps we'll | see it again in full 3D this time around.

the next logical step in their relationship. The game boasts all of Spawn's trademark powers, as well as deep combo-based hand-to- hand combat (based оп his 502 Xbox appearance, регһар5?). Publisher: Namco Developer: Namco Release Date: Fall

CALL OF NATURE

| More realistic environments, at last The previous Kain games have taken place іп a dark, gloomy, foggy version of 2” Nosgoth. At last we get to see the world 1 ® ona pleasant day.

(WG) [FC] (Eos) [ -nasz88 x ТЕ Гот [FE] [Eb] ы 5

LETHAL SKIES Il

The first Lethal Skies isn't exactly a barn burner, but it's a reasonably adequate flight sim with some interesting ideas like huge, moving boss-type vehicles reminiscent of old-school shooters. We're hoping the sequel capitalizes on these strengths and works out some of the

д first game's balance issues. We're told to expect drastically improved graphics, seven new planes, and more than 20 missions.

Publisher: Sammy Developer: Asmik Ace Release Date: Fall

Ө Official US. PlayStation Magazine

190

The number of different enemies in Blood Отеп: Legacy of Kain.

In the original Full Throttle, the characters Emmet, Adrian “Rip” " ж

VOICE WHORE

Ripburger, and Todd Newlan are all voiced by Mark Hamill.

Dance with the devil In the past games, Kain has sucked blood only from a distance. Now, it looks like he can assume a more traditional vampiric pose.

FULL THROTTLE

HELL ON WHEELS А blast from the past

There's a pretty good chance that many of you are oblivious to the sig- nificance of this game. "Full Throttle is one of LucasArts' greatest and most memorable original brands, perfectly symbolizing the company's legacy of creating games with rich characters and compelling stories," says Liz Allen, LucasArts’ director of marketing, who's keen of late to re-establish the company's non-Star Wars-driven content.

Those of us at OPM who remember the first game do so fondly: It capably combines sarcastic wit with cartoon sensibilities that are ably reproduced in the new version. Expect Hog riding (bikes, not pigs) and plenty of bar-brawlin' fisticuffs, all presented with pierced tongue planted firmly in tobacco-stuffed cheek.

Publisher: LucasArts Developer:

~~ IT’S RETRO Though you might not know it The art style of the original PC game has been reproduced here quite faith fully—except now it in full 3D.

EL. чи

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazin:

Say you, say me Say it for always. That's the way it should be.

: DISGAEA * HOUR OF DARKNESS INE Sympathy for the devil

Tired of playing the goody-goody in RPGs? Then Disgaea's for you. Laharl, the gleefully wicked prince of the underworld, is fighting to reclaim his throne from those who stole it as he slept. But this is no Slipknot-styled marathon of howling angst: Disgaea's tone more closely resembles Tim Burton's lighthearted fare, courtesy of the developers behind PS1's Rhapsody. Fortunately, they ve come a long way since then, and Disgaea features properly expansive battlefields requiring actual strategy. They've also thrown in tasty innovations like tossing your allies around the battlefield to increase their movement range, a demonic

бА $55 senate whose legislations affect gameplay, and an item world where Hug wide 7: you can meet the spirits that inhabit your equipme:

Publisher: Atlus Developer:

WIRE 2 OF 5 AY OAL ФИЙ 8 EU dE йа

ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS VIII

Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII taught us that we at OPM are not very patient people. As strategy franchises go, this опе is over- whelmingly deep—with the emphasis on overwhelming. If you like the series, you'll probably love the new one, based once again іп second-century China at the end of the Han Dynasty when a rebellion caused all hell to break loose. Romance VIII invites you into that hell. Publisher: Koci Developer: Koei Release Date: July BAe

ANS ЕТ! 3 MEIN 777107"

НЭЭ |.

DRAKENGARD EVIL INCARNATE Pretty cool name, huh? (At least it's better than the god-awful Drag- Power of the darkside On Dragoon, which was as dorky as it was meaningless.) But no mat- Ор папу neatly eyervore youd see n

T р onscreen would be fodder for уо! ter—this game looks extremely cool, thanks to a mix of high-flying ар А ИЕ

dragon-borne combat, bloody ground-based brawls, апа RPG-style games fun involves you controlling character growth. And, as befits a Square Enix game, there’s a tasty dark-side characters, including dragons, yet overwrought story binding all the action together. succubi, and, of course, those Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Cavia Release Date: Spring 2004 malevolent devil penguins.

09) Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

MONTHLY LARA UPDATE Eidos has pushed back Tomb Raider: The Angel of 3

2 Darkness to fall. Surprised? Neither are we!!! v y

COMING SOON

that no release date is ever final!)

ICE NINE

A pseudo Splinter Cell?

It may have started as an offshoot of the Colin Farrell movie The

JUNE Arc the Lad: Twilight of Spirits Sony CEA

The latest on what's coming out and when. (Just remember

One sweet strategy RPG

Recruit, but Ice Nine is turning into something completely unrelated— Big Mutha Truckers Empire

Who gives a truck?

and something potentially much, much cooler. The story line is differ- Cabela's Deer Hunt: 2004 Season Activision

Serve up some venison

ent, the characters are different—the only similarity is the Ice Nine Chaos Legion Capcom A hack-n-slash RPG computer virus controlled by Chinese terrorists. You play the part of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Ubi Soft Play with Cameron Diaz Tom Carter, a CIA operative faced with the task of taking out this [ Career Challenge EASports Yearless F1 racing organization. Meanwhile, a conspiracy plot within the CIA could throw Freestyle MetalX Midway ^ Tony Hawk meets motocross you for a loop—make some bad calls and you could find yourself inad- The Italian Job Eidos Racing

vertently working for the wrong side. Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter Black Label First-Person Shooter

From what we've seen so far, despite being a little early, /ce Nine is Magic Pengel: The Quest for ColorAgetec

Last issues Game of the Month!

turning into a formidable entry in the military/stealth genre that's cur- Naval Ops: Warship Gunner Koei УМ action and strategy rently so hot thanks to Splinter Cell. And with good reason—the lead Reel Fishing Ill Natsume It’s reel reel reel fun producer of Ubi Soft's instant classic is now working on this title. RTX: Red Rock LucasArts Save a Martian colony Publisher: Bam Developer: Torus Games Release Dat Space Channel 5 Agetec Rhythm is a dancer named Ulala Street Racing Syndicate 3D0 Race for babes : SX Superstar Acclaim The motocross lifestyle Summer Heat Beach Volleyball Acclaim Volleyball in skimpy bikinis 03 27020 emm Wakeboarding Unleashed Activision Wakeboarding M > ЦЭГ! JULY Aliens Vs. Predator: Extinction EA Games Real-time strategy Ape Escape 2 Ubi Soft Read our review in this issue! Downhill Domination Sony CEA Mountain biking Freaky Flyers Midway Airborne kart racing Fugitive Hunter. Infogrames Fugitive Hunting The Great Escape Gotham Ве Steve McQueen Indiana Jones & Emperor's Tomb LucasArts You call this archaeology? K-1 World Grand Prix Konami Beat the crap out of people NCAA Football 2004 EASports Now with online voice chat!

HUMAN SHIELDS

These CIA boys are smart Knock an enemy out and then hold him

Reel Fishing lll | Romance of Three Kingdoms VIII Koei

Гэ

i 5 Downhill Domination Hardcore strategy..again

in front of you for protection. Silent Line: Armored Core Agetec aka Armored Core 3 Smash Cars Metro3D R/C cars that smash Space Channel 5 Part 2 Agetec Long delayed, finally arriving Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild THO Watercraft racing Unlimited Saga Square Unlimitedly excruciating RPG

XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Assoc. Acclaim

Futuristic racing

AUGUST -hack//OUTBREAK Bandai Pseudo-MMORPG Part 3 Buffy 2: Chaos Bleeds Sierra/Fox Buffy's not totally gone now

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Ubi Soft

Based on the movie

Futurama Sierra/Fox Fry and pals shoot it up

Г ТА LucasArts Strategic gladiating

Hunter: The Reckoning—Wayward Interplay Hack ‘n’ Slash

Ice Nine BAM! The next Splinter Cell?

The Lost Crave Go to hell

Madden NFL 2004 EASports | Chat with competitors online!

Micro Mayhem Jaleco Like MicroMachines...but not

NCAA GameBreaker 2004 Sony CEA _ Online..but worth playing?

NFL GameDay 2004 Sony CEA -Ready for a comeback?

RPG Maker 2 Agetec Create-A-Game

Silent Hill 3 Konami Heather tries to survive the town VIRTU, AL VOI CES Soul Calibur Il Namco Probably the best fighter ever su roe | SOCOM headset, which you can use to listen to com- Alias _ ste Аац WPA VIE) шенді mands from your partner, Hannah. She guides you Disneys Extreme Skateboarding Activision Simba skates like Tony j through tricky operations (such as infiltrating enemy The Simpsons: Hit & Run Sierta/Fox Grand Theft Auto: Springfield camps) and also cracks an occasional joke. You don't Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Square Enix Play this RPG till the end of time need to use the headset, but its a bonus if you do, XIII Ubi Soft Cel-shaded FPS

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (2)

"Alter Echo has established itself as ап innovative and intriguing action game that's both unique in its approach to combat and unusual in its artistic approach to landscapes and character design.”

- IGN.com

Visit www.esrb.org : ; ons E or call 1-800-771-3772 PlayStation.e р. X | 02799

for more info. хөсох S

© 2003 THO Inc. Alter Echo, Outrage, THO and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All rights reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS! Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony f Computer Fntertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license;from Microsoft.

n

, the most powerful time ала physics.

Melee Mode

One of 3 forms you can instantly morph into. When enemies are breathing down your neck, use melee to:

* Slash and hack with your sword * Stun your enemies into submission + Show-off your agility with combos, double-jumps, juggles and more

www.thq.com

THE HULK

| | assive exposure to

1| | gamma radiation |“ causes death in nor-

mal human beings. But Bruce Banner is no normal human being. When the blast from an experimental gamma bomb hit the brilliant scientist, it didn't kill him—it only made him stronger. Now, when Banner

gets mad, you'd better hope he stops at just getting even. He gets big. He gets mean. He gets green. He becomes the Hulk. Trust us. You wouldn't like him. when he's angry.

Or maybe you would.

Since 1962, the beast fueled by Banner's rage has enthused fans of superheroes (make that.

super-antiheroes) all over the world. A little bit Frankenstein's monster and a little bit Mr. Hyde, the Hulk has stood the test of time as a genuine icon of American pop culture. A staple in the Marvel Comics lineup for hundreds of issues, he has also. starred in several cartoon series and one of the best superhero-

with

based shows in television history, And he’s just getting started. This summer, Universal Pictures introduces the Jade Giant to the silver screen in The Hulk, a film certain to rank among the year's biggest block- busters. Not to be outdone, Universal Interactive's new Р52 release of the same name offers

WRIS,

BAKER 6

gamers a chance to relive scenes from the movie while experiencing the character's comic-book roots.

Never before has the charac- ter created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby enjoyed such prominence.

There's really only one word for it: incredible.

It's a good.

thing Bruce Banner isnt а gamer. We all know what happens when he gets angry— and the disappointing quality of games thus far that star his alter ego would definitely set off the beast that lies within, quite pos- ‘sibly sending the Hulk on а ram- page throughout the videogame industry.

Luckily, fans of the green-

skinned behemoth now have a

THE HULK

chance to

see their hero star in a game worth playing. Universal Interactive's The Hulk, based in the same universe as Universal Pictures’ soon-to-be- a-smash movie [check out page 84), is а PS2 game developed with one thing in mind: "We

wanted to make this character feel like the Hulk," says Jeff Barnhart, the game's producer. “Giving him abilities and game mechanics that are like, ‘Wow, F could only ever do this if 1 was. the Hulk.”

With this mindset, the development team at Radical Entertainment focused its thoughts on how it could make’ you feel as green-skinned and gamma-irradiated as possible. As a result, nearly anything you've ever seen the Hulk do is something you can

cially exist," Sgt. Nick Fury once told the Hulk of Gen.

accomplish in the game. Beyond the typical punching and kicking prevalent in The Hulk's beat-em- up genre, the character's trade- mark moves, like the Thunder. Clap and Ground Stomp, prove crucial to your success.

These particular moves grow even more outstanding when coupled with Rage Boosts, a. gameplay element designed to emulate the fact that as the Hulk gets angrier, he also gets stronger. “As you're taking dam- age, it’s taking away your life,” says Barnhart, "but the Hulk

so he can make his own monstrosi- ties—monstrosities like Flux, a less-powerful, deformed version of the Hulk created by Ryker after he subjected Pvt. Benjamin

gets angrier and angrier, so then, you've got access to these special moves. Slam your hands. into the ground and it's one of those things that makes you до, ‘Wow, I'm the Hulk! | just shook the ground here and 10 guys flew up in the air. And things that were surrounding me blew up, and the walls got knocked down, and cars flew across the room." The really neat part about the flying debris? It all reacts in a. manner that would please even a physicist like Banner. "Because the Hulk is going to

bosses, walk away once you've knocked him to the ground], but you'll have a much easier time if you manage to destroy all of the consoles in the room and throw Flux into the middle. This is easier if you can coerce him to throw his grenades in the vicinity of a console.

Ryker. "He's involved in some nasty, nasty stuff. The worst kind of psycho—one with resources. He sees himself as Ahab, an' you're the big white whale." Ryker's fascination with the Hulk rests not in wanting to destroy Banner's alter ego inas- much as wanting to learn from it

Tibbetts to gamma radiation.

IN THE GAME: You don't actual- ly fight Ryker, but he is fea- tured prominently in the story, and you do hear him bark orders to Flux during a boss fight. Much of your fight with Flux comes down to straight brawling ability (just like other

FIRST APPEARANCE: The Incredible Hulk |vol.3] "14

VE

May 1962: The Incredible Hulk *1.

The first appearance of the Hulk may catch you off quard-—Bruce Banner's monstrous form actually has gray skin. Writer Stan Lee didn’t like the way the color turned out—by Issue #2, the Hulk was green.

ON FIRST APPEARANCE: The Incredible Hulk |vol.3] "17

- * 22

INCREDIBLE TIMELINE

Compiled By Steve Almanzi, webmaster of The Lair of the Grey Hulk: http://www. geocities.com /lairofthegreyhulk

March 1963: The Fantastic Four *12

Madness ensues when Gen. Ross mistakes

the Thing of the Fantastic Four for the Hulk. Along with the FF’s appearance in Amazing

Spider-Man #1, this marks the first charac- ter crossover in Marvel history.

March 1963: The Incredible Hulk *6

The last issue in the first run of Incredible Hulk books is published. Who's to blame? The punk kids who spent their 12 pennies on The Amazing Spider-Man, The Mighty Thor, and The Fantastic Four instead.

( )) Official US. PlayStation Magazine

ORIGIN: Who would have thought a high-school dropout like Samuel Sterns could come so close to taking over the world on multiple occa- sions? Sterns' accidental exposure to gamma radiation

interact with so many things, you can't just have canned anima- tions for how things are going to react," says Barnhart. “This is what the entire game is about, ѕо you have to have physics for things getting knocked back according to how hard the Hulk hits them, and where he hits. them, and what he hits them with. If the Hulk's gonna pick up an object and throw it into another object, you need real physics for how those things are going to react."

A physics engine like The Hulk's truly enhances the ехрегі- ence. As Barnhart says, “Тһе level can happen in different ways every time you play it. Like that opening level where you're at the gas station [in the desert]—I think every time | play that level, 1 do it in a different way. One time, ГЇ до for the heli- copters right away, and another. time I'll pick up a car and swipe soldiers with it. There's so much stuff to do!”

The Hulk doesn't end with ruthless destruction, either. IA, few games, like Batman: | Vengeance or superman: d of Apokolips--and уеп the not- so-incredible6-bit: Hulk. Ш games feature t the occasion level with a Bruce Wayne c 9 Clark Kent. But never befo

"All the smashing an destruction can wear уо!

gameplay] is always chan

Sept. 1963: The Avengers *1 The Avengers superteam is formed, incorporating the Hulk as a founding member along with Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp.

| things. ІК;

yielded а result totally opposite Banner's: Instead of turning him from a genius into a dim-witted, muscle-bound monster, the gamma rays changed him from a moron into Earth's most brilliant criminal mas- termind. Now, with a cranium five times its original size (plus some really nasty boils), the Leader seeks nothing less than world domination.

IN THE GAME: Masterminding a plot to take over the world, the Leader confronts you near the end of the game. Without

things up and changing the way you're thinking about the game. And it's another way to deliver what this character is about. “The Hulk has always been very two-sided, right?” he contin- ues. "You've got Banner trying to repress his rage and cure him- self, and then the Hulk side where it's all about rage and destruction. In every good story- based thing I've ever read ог watched, one thing that sucks me in the most is when l'm fol- lowing the story for one charac- ter and it really has me interest- ed, and it gets really exciting and goes onto another chapter, and then they cut to another charac- ter. It's like—-boom!—another story. So it's kind of the same thing with this game, where | think it's another hook for the player to get all excited about the Bruce Banner gameplay. You turn on the game—boom!— you've got a great Hulk level. And. just when you can't get enough of it, here's Bruce Banner stuff, And

then you’ re like, Oh. man, | can’t

wait til f get back to another

“Hulk level.’ Then, you start

playing Banner and you’ re

ike, Oh, this isreally fun. T.

Vili 't wait to, ШИН what the

nother Hulk level. Mts.

kind of teasing you "4

ЭШ want to play both '

makes the experience ІШІ

FIRST APPEARANCI Tales to Astonish "62

THE

giving away too

much, know that it takes both Banner and the Hulk to bring him down. The fighting meth- ods you've perfected up to this point should serve you well in defeating the big-headed psy- cho. But just because you beat the Leader doesn’t mean the game is over.

THE HULK

because you have access to 50 much more stuff.”

In order to grant you more gameplay access, Radical used Some access of its own. "[The Universal Pictures] guys were like, Ме want the game guys involved from day one, y Barnhart. "So two years a when they had their early 5 and storyboards, they were working hand in hand with the. Radical guys, sayinc down to the lot. Com what we have."

What they had was pretty much everything a game devel-

pts

Come on

check out

oper could want. The movie's art director granted the team access to a whole trailer full of art being used in the film, including.

ORIGIN: Tony

Materson ís

him instantly. Or did it ight, M

in the form of Half-Life, being who off.

FIRST APPEARANCE:

maquettes; concept art, and sto- ryboards. The game's opening cut-scene proves as much. “If you've seen the trailers, you'll probably recognize when Banner goes up into the bathroom and. washes his hands and the Hulk comes through the mirror," says. Barnhart. "We got those story- boards when Universal Pictures eriginally had them. We took the Storyboards and made the game from them, and they took them and made the film.”

Universal Pictures also grant- ed Radical an on-site look at the. film's sets. "We'd walk around and take photos," says Barnhart, who goes on to describe а certain mission in which 27 Banner [voiced by the !

The Incredible Hulk мді. 2] *364

JU.

Sept. 196

5 to Asi

The Hulk battles Giant-Man in this monthly Marvel series. In the following issue, his own stories are told for half of each book. Namor the Sub-Mariner takes Giant-Man's

place beginning with TTA #70.

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

965:

Aug ales to Aste For the first time, Bruce Banner maintains his intel- lect while in

Hulk form.

character's onscreen persona), Eric Bana) disguises himself as a guard. “When you go up that level's final elevator, that was а set where we just walked around taking photos. When | was walk- ing around there in the game, it was just so weird ‘cause it was like Virtual reality, | was actually. there! When people play the game and see the film or see the film and play the game, they're going to totally recognize that and be like, ‘Oh wow! How cool.” And yet it's going to take place in a different timeframe." The Hulk picks up a year, after the events of the movie, yet manages to incorporate settings from the film in a

weaken our hero and grow. life gy he IN THE GAME: "I

you fi o dif

r with the

n't touch him.”

bet is to и:

ORIGIN: In. gradua terns (who ju:

years pa prominent sci:

Jan. 19

For the first time, the Hulk publicly changes back Into Bruce Banner, reveal- ing his secret at last. Significantly present at this scene are Betty Ross, “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Glenn Talbot.

way that makes sense within. the context of the story.

It's with this story that Radical's good relationship with Marvel Enterprises came іп especially handy. With Radical, Marvel, and Universal all work- ing hand in hand, "it was kind of like this nice little Triforce of jeint collaboration to get this. thing to work,” recalls Barnhart,

The team, whose lead design- ers Barnhart describes as "so hardcore fans of the Hulk comics," was able to choose any villains from the Hulk's rogues. gallery, eventually deciding on Ravage, Half-Life, Madman, Flux, and— most diabolical of them all—the

0 proves. d you might

even want to risk losing

a bit of energy with а. 1 powerful punch from Ж

similar ге: the form of M

He got them—in man. The only

m one-on-on So, focus your on destroying the

s

Hulk's most powerful foe, the Abomination, debuts. Covered with lizardlike scales, he's smarter, bigger, ү Po stronger...and uglier. 18

Leader. (Not familiar with these guys? Check out their bios throughout this feature.) "What made us decide on which ones to pick was all about gameplay," informs Barnhart. "We chose great villains that fit into our story well but that also made each boss fight kind of unique." Іп the story, the Leader allies. himself with a team of Hulk foes with a mind big mind) to—you guessed it—take over the world. Using the very same gamma orb that transforms Ravage into а Hulk-like being—and has the power to cure Banner of his. curse--the Leader aims to create an army of gamma soldiers. Starting in the.

ч ^ Т Геша.

FIRST APPEARANCE: Д The Incredible Hulk |і. 2] #334

intion the

to get you). n you, so you. ive much trouble grabbing him with Circle ог slamming down hard on him. from the air.

desert flashback], the Hulk and Banner find themselves vis- iting other locales from the film, such as San Francisco and the military base. The game ends aboard the Leader's ship witha plot twist of sorts when both Banner and the Hulk confront the big-brained megalomaniac.

The comic-book influence on The Hulk strongly influenced the game's beautiful mix of realistic and cel-shaded graphics. “We thought, ‘what a cool way to kind of bring all that together, by creating this new version of cel-shading,"” Barnhart tells us. “You cel-shade it in а way that doesn't make it feel cartoony, but rnakes it look like kind of a combination of realism from the film and a comic look. And then we're like, ‘Gosh, not only does this kind of bring these two uni- verses together, but—wow— this looks really cool!’ There're no other games that do that type of cel-shading.”

ORIGIN: M vnen Due

University, Dr awford t tudent un

April 1968: vol. 2] *16 Namor and the Hulk say good-bye to to Astonish, as the newly dubbed The

Incredible Hulk continues Tales’ number-

ing and dedicates all its pages to its green-skinned namesake.

m ШТА Ы

And Barnhart doesn't deny the Hulk-sized pressure associ- ated with pleasing fans who are tired of their only good gaming experience with the Jade Giant coming courtesy of Capcom fighting games. "It's humon- gous!” he admits. “It was very overwhelming—something that was a huge challenge. But very fun at the same time.”

Yes, fun...not unlike the game itself. If Bruce Banner ever decides to take up gaming, The Hulk might not be a bad place for him to start. 11!

himself from his crippled state. As Ravage,

until later. any other

FIRST APPEARANCE: Тһе Rampaging Hulk (vol. 2] *2

fallo on you. "ТІ Achilles

02

ch 19; мої. 2] The ЕБВ Man, who can absorb the physical properties of anything he touch- es, becomes one of the Hulk's deadliest, baldest foes.

Out of curiosity, Dr. Leonard Samson irra- diates himself with gamma-particle ener- gy drained from the Hulk. He gains 200 pounds of muscle, fights Hulk, and later becornes one of Banner's great friends.

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Tales

THE HULK

The Hulk's live-action debut changes the comics. Bill Bixby plays Dr. David Banner (по Bruce), and а green-painted Lou

Ferrigno takes over when he gets angry.

Wolverine makes his first full appearance as a Canadian operative in pursuit of the Hulk!

Ө, Official US. PlayStation Magazine

eb. 1 1 Sh ik vol. 2 The She-Hulk is born as a result of a 260 Major Glenn Talbot pilots a blood transfusion Banner provides to plane trying to take down the Hulk. save the life of his cousin, Jennifer Hulk takes down the plane and Walters. Green chicks = hot. f 1 Talbot is killed.

May 1982: The Incredible Hulk TV series,

“A Minor Problem”

There's one major problem in this, the last, episode of The incredible Hulk: It ends with а never-resolved cliffhanger!

1984: QuestProbe Featuring the Hulk Computer gamers get а chance to take part in the Hulk experience in this text- based adventure. it’s not exactly as viscer- al as Universal's game.

( am Raimi wowed moviego- | ers with Spider-Man. Bryan

Singer's X-Men films are only getting better. Now, it's Ang

Lee's turn to debut one of Marvel

Comics’ most iconic superheroes on the big screen. And based on the buzz behind Universal Pictures’ biggest summer block- buster, the respect Raimi and Singer have paid to their respec- tive franchises may not hold a gamma ray to Lee's dedication to The Hulk.

"The Hulk is the first Marvel

creature іп the comic-book world

that is a mixture of monster and superhero,” says Lee, whose attention to detail has reportedly resulted in the likes of two-hour discussions on how a certain major character might eat a

chicken wing. “| think it's possible to do a mixture in a very emotion-

al way. We ай have that Hulk inside of us—that alter ego.”

No one shows that side of his personality to the world in quite the same manner as that poultry connoisseur himself, Dr. Bruce Banner, played by Eric Bana (Black Hawk Down]. "There's so

acter,” Bana tells us. “He's a somewhat confused individual. On the surface is a scientist апа that kind of thing—underneath,

pletely in touch with what has occurred and why. As the movie

| covering those dark secrets and repressed memories." Hot off A Beautiful Mind (апа, ‘well, just plain hot), Oscar-win- ner Jennifer Connelly plays Betty

; Ross, whose attraction to Bruce is based largely on trying to fig-

иге him out. "Betty Ross finds herself in love with somebody.

is," Writer/Co-producer James 7 Schamus told USA Today. “Her quest to find the truth is also a 7 quest to fully realize her love.” Nick Nolte's (48 Hours) role as Bruce's abusive father, David, factors heavily into his son's dis- 22 turbed psyche. Also a scientist, |, David may have instilled much more іп Bruce than inner rage and resentment. "I improved on

May 1986: The Incredible Hulk vol. 2] *319 After a 24-year courtship, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner and Betty Ross are finally wed! [How do they stay looking so young?!)

much soul-searching in this char-

there's a dark past. He isn't com-

progresses, he gets closer to dis-

She doesn't know who or what he

exactly what Bruce's pop means. Complicating matters, the mili- tary doesn’t take kindly to green muscle-bound freaks on а ram- page. Major Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas, Sweet Home Alabama) and Betty's father, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Sam Elliott, We Were Soldiers}, lead the charge to bring down the Hulk, who is brought to life by incredi- ble computer imagery courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic.

Lee may treat his virtual actor with more care and precision than his real ones. In fact, daily supervision by the man best known for directing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ensured that ILM created a realistic-looking Hulk, complete with facial hair, pores, and muscles that respond to movement in an anatomically appropriate manner.

Acting alongside a 15-foot syn- thespian who wasn’t actually there for the shooting proved unsettling for Connelly. “I'm look- ing at pieces of pink tape on the cutout head," she recalled to Vanity Fair. "There's nothing there! It's a little humiliating.”

It didn't take long for Connelly to get used to her situation, how- ever, and the onscreen result should exemplify what Lee values to an even greater degree than Сб! (ог even proper chicken con- sumption]: a thrilling yet serious, emotional story.

Nolte was skeptical before he accepted his role. “I wasn’t inter- ested in just doing a cartoon,” he told DarkHorizons.com. “Ang came to the house and said, ‘Look, Nick, ! don't know how to do a cartoon. But 1 do know how to make a Greek tragedy.' So i said, ‘If we go for a Greek tragedy, I'll go for it.”

Marvel producer Avi Arad applauds Lee for going the extra three-mile leap to shake the “just a comic movie" stigma. “Usually, а director like Lee reacts to a story he can tell," he says. í "Audiences should think of Тһе Hulk as an art film with amazing action and a big budget."

Even with talk of a sequel already making the rounds, based on his remarks to Enter- tainment Weekly, it sounds like Lee needs a break: "When this is

t

April 1987: The Incredible Hulk vol. 2] #330 General “Thunderbolt” Ross dies. He mysteriously returns in later issues of the comic-book series. Wanna know how? So do we!

Oct. 1986: The Incredible Hulk [vol. 2] *324 It's the first (return) appearance of the Gray Hulk since his 1962 debut with The Incredible Hulk #1 (which, until now, had been treated as а “mistake”).

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

THE MONSTER IS BORN In 1961, Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby revitalized superhero comic books by creating The Fantastic Four. The duo hoped to continue that suc- cess the following year with a new project, Inspired since his youth by Boris Karloff's rendition of the monster in Frankenstein, Lee set out to create his own misunder- stood monster with whom read- ers could sympathize. When he realized a cerebral side was also needed to keep the character interesting, he recalled Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “The idea of a character transforming from normal to monstrous and back to

* D

Sept. 1988: The Incredible Hulk [vol. 2] *347 Gray Hulk begins his stint as Las Vegas bodyguard Mr. Fixit. While in this role, he meets and dates Marlo Chandler, who later marries his pal Rick Jones in issue #418,

May 1987: The Incredible Hulk vol. 2] #334. Writer Peter David begins his 136-issue run working on The Incredible Hulk. Most fans consider David's 11 years writing for the series to be the best Hulk era ever.

normal again intrigued me," Lee writes in his foreword to Hulk: The Incredible Guide.

By January 1962, Lee's tragic tale had intrigued its own read- ers, Set at a desert facility run by the U.S. Department of Defense, the story opened with Dr. Bruce Banner preparing to test his much-ballyhooed 'G-bomb," а gamma-radiation bomb created at the height of the Cold War in order to deter a nuclear attack. After weeks of setbacks—many caused by a frustrated Soviet spy named Igor Drenkov—Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross grew impatient and ordered the countdown to begin. At the same time, Banner noticed a teenager named Rick Jones driving his car through the site on a dare. In an act of heroism, Banner rushed to rescue the teen and managed to throw him into a ditch moments before the bomb detonated. One problem, though—Banner didn't quite make it that far.

Miraculously, the brilliant sci- entist survived the blast, but he began to experience unbearable

pain as gamma radiation flowed through his body. Banner suf- fered for the next several hours until night set in, at which point his body underwent an awesome, horrific, and incredible transfor- mation: He became the monster known as the Hulk.

Soon after the events of his first comic, the Hulk began to Чар! into his more traditionally nown form; Because Lee and irby preferred the color green's look оп the comic-book page, they changed the creature's origi- nal gray

Interested

in reading Hulk comics but intimidated by the thought of jumping in with a limited knowledge of the character? We asked Marvel Comics Editor Axel Alonso to fill us in on the basics of what's going on now.

June 1991: The Incredible Hulk [vol. 2] *382 The Hulk joins the Pantheon. Assembled by a philanthropic immortal named Agamemnon, the superteam’s goal is to prevent emergencies from happening.

Official layStation Magazine

hue. And rather than have the absence of daylight trigger Banner's transformation, the cre- ators decided that strong feel- ings—like anger and fear—would provide the catalyst.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Since page two of Тһе Incredible. Hulk #1, Betty Ross has been there. The daughter of Gen. Ross, she spent her early years as a military brat on the move. Then she met a shy, sensitive physicist named Bruce Ваппег--а sharp contrast to the tough-as-nails Soldier types she'd grown accus- tomed to. From their very first meeting, Betty felt something Special for Banner—but when the person you're in love with turns into a raging monster hated

by the world, it tends to compli- cate matters.

Throughout the years, many factors prevented the couple from hearing wedding bells. Above all, Gen. Ross detested Banner's green alter ego. At one point, everyone believed Banner dead though the Hulk lived, so Betty married his rival, Maj. Glenn Talbot. Soon after, a supervillain named MODOK sub- mitted Betty to gamma rays, transforming her into the evil birdlike Harpy—one of the few creatures who ever defeated the. Hulk. Betty eventually reverted to normal, though, and divorced Talbot, By 1986, she and Banner wed, and despite their marriage's rocky points (including a miscar- riage three years later), the two loved each other until Betty's tragic death at the hands of the Abomination in 1998,

“The current

Hulk story line (written by Bruce Jones) has broadened the audience for the series because it cuts to the heart of the character,” says Alonso. “If you or | lose our temper, we break some fine china—if Bruce Banner loses his cool, he unleashes a force that can level a city. That's heavy stuff.

"The current Hulk is about anger-management issues, the uncontrollable id, the line

Jan. 1993: The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect. This miniseries lands Hulk in a postapoca- lyptic future where he must confront him- self. Driven mad by further nuclear radia-

tion, "Maestro" rules with an iron fist.

GREEN AND GRAY Although most people know the Hulk as a green-skinned, dim- witted beast incapable of con- structing a proper sentence, Banner's alter ego actually takes many forms. When Banner was a child, his. father abused him, leading to his multiple-personality disorder later in life. The gamma radiation he was exposed to simply unleashed the other beings within him, each manifest- |: ing itself as a different Hulk. х Several incarnations have presented themselves, but the green Savage Hulk (as opposed to Professor Hulk or Mindless Hulk) is the one you're probably most familiar with. His limited

vocabulary, childlike nature, апа Ч

need to be alone represent Banner's powerless inner child. Of course, being the strongest version, Savage Hulk is anything but powerless.

Though Gray Hulk resulted as a misprint of sorts from the first Hulk issue, writers in the 19805 resurrected him to add more complexity to the character. Very. intelligent, but not as big or strong as Savage Hulk, Gray Hulk is still a brute—not someone you'd wanna mess with. Once, while the world believed the Hulk was dead, Gray Hulk managed to sequester his Banner side. Naming himself Joe Fixit, he worked as an enforcer for a Las Vegas casino owner--beating the crap out of people was part of his. job, and he loved it. Eventually, however, Banner fought his way back as the dominant personality.

between man and monster,

he continues. "Like the char- acter from the TV show of old, our Bruce Banner is a man on the run for a crime allegedly committed by his alter ego. Unlike the TV show, he is being pursued not just by the authorities, but also by myste- rious and seemingly sinister forces—forces with motives of their own. The backdrop is weird science; the vibe is pure thriller. This is not a super- hero book."

Ч 1S D>

Wanna learn more about the Hulk's long (and confus-

ing!) history? Check out Tom DeFakcos excellent Hulk: The Incredible Guide from DK Publishing or Marvel's own Hulk Encyclopedia.

July 1998: The Incredible Hulk vol. 2] *466 Bruce Banner's wife Betty Ross is mur- dered by the Abomination, the result of gamma-radiation blood poisoning.

THE HULK

The Hulk's book is renumbered in the series that continues to today. Commencing with issue #12, The word

“Incredible” is again added to the title.

( 38) Official US. PlayStation Magazine

The Incredible Hulk roller pu Writer Bruce Jones and artist John Romita,

Jr. send Bruce Banner on the run after he's blamed for the death of a young boy. This story represents a darker, edgier direction.

coaster opens at Universal

Studios’ Island of Adventure т

in Orlando, Florida.

here's something exhila- rating about the Hulk, according to Axel Alonso, editor at Marvel Comics. "| mean, who hasn't wished they could transform into a big, indestructible mon- ster at one time or another? And then there's the purple pants.... Don't get me started."

For some reason, we think even mainstream audiences find more than just the Hulk's wardrobe appealing. Fact is, even without this summer's megahype, you don't have to be а comic-book fan to relate to what ol’ Greenskin is all about. Throughout the years, other media—especially television— have contributed to the Hulk's giant popularity.

LJ

THE TV SHOW

Who would have thought that one of the biggest TV stars of the late 7708 would be a world-class bodybuilder painted green? Starting in 1977 and lasting for

е

“Eat your heart out, Affleck!”

five seasons, CBS's The Incredible Hulk featured the bulky Lou Ferrigno as the mon- strous alter ego of Dr. David Banner, played by the late Bill Bixby. (The show's producer changed the character's name to David both to avoid alliteration and because Bruce sounded too “gay.”] The show's loose inter- pretation of the comic-book mythos meant there was no Leader, Abomination, or any- thing else remotely resembling a supervillain. Instead, Banner spent his life on the run, espe- cially from a tabloid reporter named Jack McGee (Jack Colvin), while looking for a cure to his Hulk-itis. You can get a taste for what the series is all about on Universal's recently released DVD of the pilot episode [see page 51 for more].

THE MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES

Years after the TV series ended, Bixby and Ferrigno returned to their popular roles in three TV movies for NBC. Though excru- ciatingly hard to watch (check out Anchor Bay's recently released two-disc DVD set to see what we mean], both The Incredible Hulk Returns and The Trial of the Incredible Hulk tried to please Marvel fans with appearances by Thor (Eric Allan Kramer) and a black-pajamas- wearing Daredevil (Rex Smith). Even Gimli himself, the respectable John Rhys-Davies, embarrassed himself in Trial as

The Hulk from Universal Pictures smashes into a theater near you. Celebrate with a pair of Hulk Hands!

SPOOFS

The ultimate form of flattery

The past few decades have seen many attempts to satirize the Hulk. In 1992, a green-painted Chris Farley delivered a hilarious eulogy at Superman’s funeral on Saturday Night Live (above). More recently, a 2002 Simpsons episode featured Homer Hulking out (left)

the Kingpin. However, 19905 Death of the Incredible Hulk (also available on DVD, but from Fox] offered closure іп а story that had the heart of the TV show. So what if the Hulk's falling out of a plane to end his life seemed a little anticlimactic?

“Hulk look funny in ‘60s cartoon!”

THE CARTOONS

Dating all the way back to 1966, three animated series have prominently featured the Hulk. Green Genes joined Namor, Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America in Marvel Super Heroes, an extremely low-budget syndi- cated production in which the cartooning literally involved making stills from published comic books move at an incredi- bly low framerate. Things got better in 1982, when NBC's The Incredible Hulk ran for one sea- son in the same hour block as Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. The best thus far, though, was 1996's The Incredible Hulk on UPN. The show lasted two seasons, fea- tured excellent animation, and faithfully re-created classic story lines for modern times. Appropriately enough, Lou. Ferrigno actually voiced the Hulk for the show.

те; 4 Ў N

mar asi as SARS wee Ую J Oss, іа y 729 owe 6-4 fct y ` 5 Е QuestProbe Featuring the Hulk War of the Gems TIH: The Pantheon Saga STARRING RI Just not many good ones A

Until now, the Hulk's track record for videogame stardom has been consider- ably less than incredible. Perhaps being canceled on Atari 2600 was a bad

omen. (Can you find the unreleased games screenshot on page 118?) Ol Greenskins first starring role occurred in a popular—yet unplayable by today's standards —text adventure for comput- ers. The 16-bit games at least hold up in their mediocrity, but only the most hard- core fans will care enough to play at all As for the PS1 game..why did Eidos even bother? If not for the new Universal Hulk, we might still think hes good only for supporting roles in Capcom fighters. Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

Making the world a more perfect place.

REVIEW

APE ESCAPE у 52 % 2

MONKEYS ARE FUNNY * em

Escape 2, t.A.T.u. Favorite Genres: RPG,

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

A surprising number of

surprisingly good games | JOHN Danson ped цагдааг this month. | John’s still suffering from а | pleasure overload at seeing PS2 GAMES GT4 and MGS3 screens. 92 Аре Escape 2 Current Favorites: Soul PREPRI Calibur 2 (still), SOCOM (still) 933, Arc the Lad: Favorite Genres: Driving, Twilight of the Spirits killing, driving and killing REAR 96 Chaos Legion Think you cau PRRI monkeys? Think again! 93 Chessmaster (Oh, yeah—shut up, Chris.) RRRI Current Favorites: Ape 95 Evil Dead:

A Fistful of Boomstick RRR

Platformers 91 The Hulk JOE RYBICKI ins 2 Joe's idea of a good time: 98 Lene Evil: Dead Aim 1. Watch The Ring. 2. Play 6 Fatal Frame. 3. Whimper. 95 Silent Line: Armored Core Current Favorites: still PRRI SOCOM (look for "joePM"] 97 Speed Kings Favorite Genres: FPS, PRR Puzzle, Shooting things 94 Unlimited Saga CHRIS BAKER Gs CHRIS SMASH GARY! CHRIS 97 Wakeboarding Unleashed SMASH TODD! CHRIS SMASH F un MN SAM! CHRIS SMASH YOU! Current Favorites: The Hulk, SMASHing! V reas Favorite Genres: SMASH! PRRI SMASH! SMASH! 99 Jigsaw Madness Ч SAM KENNEDY PR " If there's one thing Sam 97 МІВ 2004 loves about having his bio RRR underneath Chris’, it’s that 99 Mobile Armor no matter what, he can't * seem half as dorky. 1 Current Favorite: Arc the Lad ЗЭР моле Ваза Favorite Genres: Action 99 Patriotic Pinball TODD ZUNIGA REI | Yo, check it. I's either playin’ footie wit’ me main mens on PERIPHERALS da PS2, or I's out wit’ me 99 Air Flo EX geezers sharkin' fo’ birds. 52222 Current Favorites: Winning 99 Promedia GMXD-5.1 Eleven 6, Da Ali G Show RRR Favorite Genres: Sports 99 Remote Free BRK

ake a second to think about everything you could possibly want іп a Hulk game. If you're like me, you might have pondered this in the Past with thoughts like, “Well, f smashing! And...um. big bosses to fight! And... .um...did | mention lots of ashing? tis, with a character like incredible icon of super- ics, there’s not a whole lot more you can realistically expect than a game that makes you feel like ol’ Green Genes. And that's where the smashfest known as The Hulk succeeds. It may fea- ture the problems inherent with most any game of the Double Dragon/Final Fight variety, but there hasn't been a punch/kick/ throw beat-em-up this good in many years. ч If you want "HULK SMASH!" Ч you've got it. Although the game S takes the Green Goliath on a very Ч linear path of destruction, it’s a very entertaining one that, thanks largely to its fantastic physics engine, you can play dif- ferently just about any time you experience the game. You can also interact with almost anything found along the way— pick up everything from debris to cars to butchered meat hanging

in a freezer, then use it to knock the crap out of any soldier, gamma dog, or other freakish abomination you face. The addi- tion of all of the Hulk’s signature moves [save the three-mile leaps, an understandable omis- sion for gameplay’s sake] only makes things better for comic purists, though having to hit two buttons at once for a Rage attack often leads to undesired results “Undesired” also describes the Bruce Banner levels. | appre- ciate the change of pace offered by stealth missions, but Metal Gear Solid quality these are not. While the cinematic camera angles never really inhibit your experience as the Hulk, as Banner, they can make it impos- sible to effectively stealth-kill a soldier, because you're simply too far away to judge depth prop- erly—that’s a real problem. Beyond that, the А.І. forgets about you once you reach a cer- tain point of escape, much of these missions amount to simple crate pushing, and some of the stealth action is just plain illogi- cal. (Case in point: In one area, Banner disguises himself as a masked soldier, yet he’s recog- nized if he gets too close to an enemy. Noticeably keeping as far away from them as possible,

however, raises no suspicion.) The only real bright spot to these levels is hearing Eric Вапа 5 excellent voice work.

Fortunately, few levels delve in the throwaway stealth, and any criticisms of the smash-em- up action are probably exactly what you'd expect—it's some- what repetitious after a while and a bit nonsensical (does it really take three Hulk hits to bring down one measly human soldier?). | also wish the plot had done a bit more to introduce Hulk newbies to the stories behind the bosses ripped straight from the Hulk comics— Ravage, Madman, and Flux aren't exactly the Joker, Lex Luthor, or Magneto. Despite that oversight, though, most boss fights, espe- cially the one against Half-Life, are a blast.

As a character, the Hulk may not be as conducive to gameplay as Spider-Man or Wolverine, but you have to applaud Radical for doing just about everything you could want with the not-so-jolly green giant. Stealth missions excepted, you're in for a gen- uinely fun eight hours of game- play in The Hulk. Nuff said. Chris Baker

THE HULK

One incredible beat-em-up

Publisher: Universal Interactive Developer: Radical MSRP: $4999 ESRB: Teen

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (Cy

They're too busy singing to put anybody down.

act: Everyone loves mon- keys. Next fact: Ape

Escape 2 is loaded with

monkeys—300, to be exact. Final

fact: If you don't love monkeys, you're un-American and the ter- rorists have won.

Consider these three simple

yet irrefutable facts, and it's easy

to see why Ape Escape 2 is one of the greatest games ever made. | mean, just think about the premise: You're on a mission to capture monkeys. With a net. And these monkeys wear pants (ег, mostly], which makes them even funnier. It's gotta rule!

Still not convinced? Well, that’s

probably because you're one of

the far-too-many people who never played the first Ape Escape, released back in 1999 for PS1.

One of OPM's top 50 PS1 games of

all time, Ape Escape was remark-

ably innovative. The neatest part?

The control scheme. Finally, a

platformer that used the Dual

Shock in such a twisty yet incredi-

bly effective way: right analog

stick for movement, left analog stick to control your numerous clever gadgets. That led to all kinds of wacky fun, like running in one direction while swiping with your net in another. Or controlling an RC car while strolling along- side it. Or twirling the right stick

to soar through the air with a

helicopter gadget while steering

with the left stick. Believe me, pf Cypr a

this works brilliantly, and it’s > Be

brilliantly fun.

Ape Escape 2 is basically more of the same, but with better graphics and some nifty new gadgets and vehicles.

That's a good thing, by the way. After all, even if you've played the first game, the quirky concept

and killer controls won't accounted for and the right shoul- final fight, | won’t be going out on feel played out. It remains der buttons are used for jumping, a sour note, because as | write as fresh as a green banana (but there's no free button for camera this, I still have 47 monkeys left to more tasty, since green bananas movement. Still, | found that | capture—some that | missed the aren't as yummy as those mushy, ^ adjusted to the camera pretty first time around, others that | overripe brown ones]. quickly—but I'm sure at least a can get to only after | “beat” the Unfortunately, a few of the few of you will suffer seasickness game. And that makes me really problems that plague the first from the herky-jerky movements. happy. Because everybody lyes, game also stick around for the 1 also hated the final boss, even Canadians] loves monkeys— sequel. The worst offender? The which took me several terribly especially when they wear those camera, which might be the only vexing hours to beat. (Үе, Mom— silly short pants. casualty of Ape Escape's other- І know hate is a strong word, but Gary Steinman wise-fantastic control setup. in this case | mean it.) Since the analog sticks are both But despite that frustrating BAH

зип

КЕ Ў САМЕ

OF THE à 5 : : MONTH There's no business like monkey business

Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Sony CE! MSRP: $3999 ESRB: Everyone

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

Publisher: Ubi Soft

Developer: Ubi Soft

MSRP: $1999 ESRB: Everyone

Every time | pick up a console chess game, the first thing | do is check out all the fancy 3D sets that are included. And every single time, | end up switching to the 2D, black and white iconic set after about 10 minutes. The resolution of a standard TV just isn't high enough to allow for much clarity on a busy 3D chessboard.

Chessmaster compounds the problem by not including any kind of zoom control on the camera. It's just one example of the many game elements that look great at first glance, but prove to be less thrilling in practice.

Take, for example, the extensive Pandolfini Chess School. It offers some solid training for the advanced player, but neophytes might find it extremely tough to understand. Each lesson is fol- lowed by a series of quizzes—but many of them assume knowledge that the lesson itself hasn't taught. What's worse, if you get the answers wrong, you're shown only the right answer, not why that answer is right and yours is wrong.

The game also includes an ani- mated mode where the pieces act out brief combat scenes when a piece is taken—but the pieces themselves look ridiculously simi- lar to one another, so it's nearly impossible to follow the game.

Chessmaster is a full-featured chess game. And it undoubtedly will help you hone your game if you already have some experience under your belt. But it's flawed in a lot of little ways, and these little flaws add up.

Joe Rybicki

Publisher: Sony CEA Developer: Cattle Call MSRP:3999 ESRB: Teen Every once in a while a game comes around and completely catches you off guard. For me, Twilight of the Spirits is one of those games—partly because it came straight out of nowhere (Sony unfortunately gave it next to no prerelease hype], but also because it's such a departure from the Arc the Lad Collection | reviewed last year. It really made me realize how dated those PS1 Arcs actually are. Twilight is entirely fresh in almost every respect. Its visuals had me immediately sur- prised. Not only do the graphics often approach those of Final Fantasy X in terms of detail and clarity, but the direction will have you easily mis- taking this for a Square game. It’s clear that Sony infused this title with a healthy budget. The story is also much more , engaging this time around. It takes place thousands of years after the \previous titles and centers around {wo separated-at-birth brothers Whose lives become intertwined in their quest to control the Spirit Signes, a valuable commodity in th®iworld of Deimos. The neat part 16,400 constantly swap back and юг беїмееп the two brothers, уул үес you an interesting per- Spectiveion the intriguing story. Music bas always been a strong point in theArc series, but it's at its best here: The majestic orchestral Melodies Геб, but along with

ARC THE LAD: TWILIGHT OF THE SPIRITS

them come upbeat battle themes and moving melodies. Although the game reuses tracks for several scenes, it’s impressive how well the musical selections accompany each sequence. It gives the impression of a film score that's perfectly matched to onscreen happenings.

The only feature that hasn't changed much is the battle system—which is one of the game's few drawbacks. It's not bad, but it doesn't quite feel on par with the rest of the experience. Regardless, since the battles are strategy based, they at least remain interesting throughout. Unfortunately, every once in a while, you'll run across a battle that, for the sake of the story, requires a lot more of you than a typical battle would, making things seem а little uneven. Usually, it'll take you a couple of tries to figure out exactly what to do—a problem made worse by the fact that game saves are few and far between.

For the most part, though, Twilight is an especially solid RPG with very few low points. Fans of the original games will surely dig this latest installment (and will enjoy the occasional subtle refer- ence to previous titles), and every- one else ought to at least get sucked in by its unique story line.

| think the game's timing defi- nitely helps, too. The long summer months are ideal for a healthy, drawn-out RPG, but this year’s pickings seem a bit slim (Unlimited Saga? Um, no thanks). While it may not be the perfect RPG, Arc is the perfect RPG for this summer.

Sam Kennedy

SNEAK PEEK | The best thing about Unlimited Saga? The - extended FFX-2 video preview. You must see it!

Г

15 like а latter- day Bard's Tale!

С) REVIEWS

eep an eye on Akitoshi

Kawazu, because one

day he'll get it right, and when he does, his game will be absolutely extraordinary.

But for now, the-man-whose- name-sits-above-the-Unlimited- Saga-logo has added yet another title to his string of brilliant mis- takes. The latest Saga game is nothing more than a failed experi- ment from a flawed visionary.

It's really too bad, because Saga has so much going for it: a bold visual style, a daring battle system, an innovative character- development setup, and one of the best soundtracks ever. But it also suffers some stultifying strikes: excruciating difficulty, obtuse mechanics, a stifling lack of freedom, and a brutal mission structure that punishes you as often as it rewards you.

Basically, instead of reveling in its many innovations, Unlimited Saga reminds you how good

some of those traditional, even cliché, RPG elements can be.

Take the movement system. Exploration occurs on what resembles a board game, with a stationary icon representing your party. You move one step at a time, uncovering portions of the map as you go. Occasionally, there'll be а branching path or a tricky obstacle, but you're still stuck lugging a static character around a static board. Blech.

Then there аге the enemy encounters. As you trudge along, you'll run into all kinds of colorful foes. If you're lucky, you can avoid the enemy and keep moving. If not, the battle begins. This is where things start to get good: Combat involves Lots of strategy, a bit of luck, some timing, and "unlimited" combos. But this is where things also get pretty bad: The endless encounters quickly add up, often depleting far too many of your life points, destroy- ing any hope of completing your mission. Plus, you don’t gain any experience from individual bat- tles; you get a boost in your abili- ties only if you finish a mission. Even worse, you can't bail out of battles—and for the most part, you can't heal your life points. What's more, some of the bosses are brutally unfair, with baddies that are nearly indestructible.

It's almost enough to make you cry. Believe me, when you invest a few hours on a mission, only to die just a few steps from the fin- ish line, with absolutely nothing to show for your time and effort, it's a wee bit irritating.

But not as irritating as that absurd spinning reel. While it’s a nice touch during battles, having to spin the wheel to do just about anything else—disarm traps, unlock treasure chests, cross obstacles—gets old really fast.

It all adds up to a frustrating mess. Still, while | don't recom- mend you buy this game, it’s а worthy rental for hardcore RPG fans, if only to experience some of Kawazu’s quirky vision. It’s as if he stripped away any extra ele- ments from his game, leaving us with the bare essence of an RPG.

Unfortunately, he also stripped away any sense of fun.

Gary Steinman

dod

AKITOSHI'S ATROCITIES

Unlimited Saga isn't the first visionary flop from Square pro- ducer/director Akitoshi Kawazu. Some career highlights;

FINAL FANTASY It Hey, | dug it, but plenty of FF fans were put off by the oddball development setup, which did away with experience points in favor of a system that adjusted your stats based on your specific actions.

SAGA FRONTIER Seven separate adventures lead to seven jum- bled, unfocused stories. The battles were clumsy, too.

SAGA FRONTIER 2 Maybe the prettiest 2D game ever, with lush hand-drawn art, but the dull combat quickly became a tedious chore.

LEGEND OF MANA An attempt аға |

nonlinear RPG, Mana missed the mark because it had no plot to hold it together. Still, the ability to build the world as you go was a supercool idea.

RACING LAGOON А “car-PG.” Seriously. Instead of battles, you race. Sound retarded? It is. That's probably why it was released only in Japan.

NINTENDO STUFF Ha ha! You Nintendo-only suckas—guess | what? Kawazu is heading up all the Nintendo/Square stuff!

Unlimited frustration, unlimited unfun

UNLIMITED SAGA

Publisher: Square Enix USA. Developer: Square Enix MSRP: $4999 ESRB: Teen

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick

Publisher: ТНО

Developer: VIS

MSRP: 51999 ESRB: Mature

| didn’t play State of Emergency (yes, | was one of the lucky ones], but judging from the look of horror on John's face when he saw me

playing Fistful of Boomstick, it must |

have been the kind of game that could scar you for life.

Well, I'm happy to report that it appears VIS has learned a few things from the SOE travesty. Now, Boomstick isn't what Га call a par- ticularly good game...but it's not particularly bad either. In fact, I'd say | had a lot more fun with it than Г expected.

This is largely due to the influ- ence of Bruce Campbell. He recorded all the voice work for Ash, and there's a whole hell of a lot. His wisecracking breaks up what could have been some pretty seri- ous monotony [you can even make him toss out one-liners by tapping Triangle], and there are a few choice selections from the game's cinemas that are laugh-out-loud funny.

The other big thing Boomstick has going for it is a sensible target- ing system. There are plenty of times when you'll find yourself sur- rounded by enemies, and being able to auto-target and fire from any position not only helps with the gameplay, it also makes for some pretty kick-ass effects. If an enemy shows up behind Ash, he'll just flip his shotgun over his shoulder and fire without even looking. Even bet- ter, equip a repeating shotgun with explosive shells, walk into a group of Deadites, hold down the Target and Fire buttons, and watch the blood fly. Priceless.

| also like the time-traveling theme; Ash travels from the pre-

sent to Colonial Dearborn, then to Civil War Dearborn, and finally, back to a seriously altered pre- sent. In each period (except the disappointing final act), you'll visit several familiar locations, even meeting up with Ash's own ances- tors. It's a neat device.

So why the only slightly above mediocre score? Well, the graph- ics are awfully poor...and the cam- era sucks...and the level design makes no sense whatsoever...and the enemies respawn after a shockingly short time. Plus, in spite of the fact that Ash has a weapon in each hand, he can't use them both at the same time! To me, that's a monstrous oversight.

But, you know, the game's only 20 bucks. And really, when it comes down to it, there's definitely 20 bucks worth of gameplay here. Just don't expect a masterpiece.

Joe Rybicki

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick

Publisher: Agetec

Developer: From Software

MSRP: $3999 ESRB: Teen

It's pretty much a given now that after each substantial update in the Armored Core series (denoted with a numerical increase], sub- sequent "mission packs" follow. This never ceases to amaze me— І can't believe gamers don't give From Software more flak for never offering this stuff in one major release. | guess it just stands as a testament to people's dedication to this series.

Silent Line is one of those aptly described mission packs. It has a bunch of new mech parts and a few new knickknacks, but this is essentially Armored Core 3 with different levels. And that right there ought to tell fans whether they'll want this one.

However, for those of you who haven't yet played an Armored Core game and are curious about the series, here's the deal: Think of this as a mech RPG. You're given lots of missions to carry out, you enter into battles to build up your characters, and you cus- tomize the crap out of your

mechs. That said, the game's also heavy on action, as you blast your way through a bevy of mis- sions (often with A.l.-controlled teammates]. The thing is, the controls and gameplay are very finicky, meaning lots of people get immediately turned off. Unlike the Zone of the Enders games, which are fairly easy for anyone to pick up, Armored Core is an acquired taste.

But if you're ready to check the series out, Silent Line's the game to do it with. The missions are harder and more intense than AC3's, and the game fea- tures more destructibility in its environments. And, the music's better this time around, which also ups the excitement. Plus, hardcore players will welcome

the new training mode, where the computer will record your fighting patterns so you can effectively challenge yourself. It's a cool way to test your design and fighting abilities.

Really, though, Silent Line is a great update for hardcore fans, and that's about it.

Sam Kennedy

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

ou really can't lose with

the Chaos Legion

gameplay formula. A dose of Devil May Cry mixed with a dash of Dynasty Warriors—even some RPG elements thrown in—adds up to 10 hours of gaming no hack-n- slash fan will want to do without. This doesn't mean it reaches ОМС or Dynasty caliber, however. Although it's a beautiful game full of nonstop, relentless action, Chaos' flaws turn a potentially stellar title into merely a solid one for genre fans.

Just imagine fighting monsters instead of Dynasty's ancient Chinese dudes—everything from Hulk-sized monstrosities to even bigger boss characters to insec-

toid enemies straight out of Starship Troopers—and you have an idea of what you're up against. Chaos is a truly linear affair, though, lacking the wide-open- ness of a Dynasty game. However, the DMC-like ambience adds a flair that just screams Capcom quality; also, there’s no slowdown to be found, even as dozens of assailants attack at once. Unlike most of the company’s games, Chaos forsakes dramatic camera angles in favor of granting you complete camera control with the right analog stick—a big plus in a game like this.

Chaos sets itself apart from other games of its ilk in that your character, Sieg, has the power to call upon Legions to assist him against the droves of enemies he faces. There are seven Legions, ranging from behemoths of great power to groups of swordsmen and archers. As cool as these companions may be, the game handles their management in a flawed manner. You can equip only two Legions per mission, and you earn new ones in a stage-by- stage manner—which means you can't even access all the Legions until you're more than halfway through the game. | quite like building these guys up as in an RPG, but why would | want to waste my time with the level 1 Legions | find later in the game when the first two | received have already powered up to level 4? It just doesn't make sense. (You can't even start over with all of your powered-up Legions once you beat the game!)

The cut-scenes also rubbed me the wrong way. ! can't think of a better example of artsy intentions gone awry, resulting in overly melodramatic drivel that truly makes me want to gag. Exacerbating matters, some absolutely detestable voice acting overshadows otherwise reason- able performances.

| did have fun with Chaos, though, and that's the whole point of a game like this. If a sequel can improve the RPG elements, Capcom may have yet another great series on its hands.

I£hris Baker

HAOS LEGION

А fun hack-n-slasher, a flawed RPG

Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom MSRP: $4999 ESRB: Teen

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Speed Kings

Publisher: Acclaim

Developer: Climax London

MSRP: $3999 ESRB: Everyone

Let me see a show of hands for those who have actually heard of this game. None of you? No, me neither. It completely slipped under the radar, and that is a ter- rible, terrible shame because it's a surprisingly good game. Speed Kings is not a masterpiece, but it has something nailed that so many games seem to lack: it's fun. Lots of fun. Seriously.

Think crazy racing with stunts | and reckless behavior, pepper it with a little bit of combat, and put | the whole thing on high-speed motorcycles. Ride like a loony and | you can build up a power gauge that lets you take advantage of a | crazy speed boost. Sound familiar? Wait until you see the insane and spectacular crashes. Burnout fans who prefer bikes to cars will get a huge kick out of the whole thing. !

You can also take out your орро- nents with a swift kick or punch and watch them wipe out. That sounds familiar, too, huh? With ЕА5 Road Rash franchise notably

| absent from PS2, right now this is

its spiritual successor.

I'm not normally one to get into bike games [and believe me, I've tried], but I'm oddly drawn to Speed Kings. There are plenty of challenges to keep you busy, lots of really cool-looking bikes to unlock, and plenty of stunts to master. It also has that elusive pick-up-and-play quality that means you can putz about with it for a few minutes, or you can real- ly put your head down and open up a bunch of stuff.

| like pleasant surprises, and | think this is one of the most pleas-

| ant I've had in a while. You should

definitely check it out. John Davison

Speed Kings

| Developer: Shaba Studios | MSRP: 54999 ESRB: Everyone

180 FRONT2FAK E FROM 36

2 "n 5

Publisher: Activision

| FU answer your question right off:

| or start a new challenge or go for a

15 this Tony Hawk оп a wakeboard? It is not. Well, maybe a little—same | precise controls, a load of guys you haven't heard of, great graphics. But really, it's a great game that won't sell a lick, because who gives а snot about wakeboarding? To the 11 protesting wakeboarders іп the | crowd: Shut it! No one cares about | your "sport."

If | look at this game purely from a gaming standpoint, it's so brilliantly crafted, you should try it. | Looking at it from a cultural stand- point: It's wakeboarding. And only 11 people care.

At the very least, you should play this solely for the soundtrack. ІШ go out on a limb and say this is the best soundtrack l've ever | heard. Vice City's musical array is vast, but it has a few turds in the mix, and Hawk 4's tunes are incon- sistent. But Wakeboarding's rhythms will keep you tied to the game without complaint.

Another of the game's best fea- tures is that everything is at your fingertips. If you want to upgrade

load of gaps, you can access all of it without dealing with loading screens. That kind of accessibility is a first for an action-sports game. But this game does have one real pain-in-the-butt, can't-be- fixed problem. Let's say you're try- ing to grind the one "secret" rail— secret, even though you know exactly where it is. You putz | toward it, and because the boat is tugging you along, it takes 32 sec- onds for you to get to the chal- |

| lenge. Then you miss your two-

je.

А

second window to get оп the rail. Restart and it's 32 more seconds of waiting. Bo. Ring.

If the U.S. government out- lawed wakeboarding tomorrow, it wouldn't change anything in my life. And | think the masses are

| with me. Still, this is a really pret-

ty game with eye-catching water, really vast and inspiring environ- ments, and some pretty nifty challenges that'll keep you locked in. Plus, there are boat races! And the two-player mode is absolutely rockin'.

So, while | say it's great, and while І keep stopping what I'm doing to play the game, l'm pretty sure you won't stop what you're doing to play the game. But you should. Especially since it's illicit, since maybe the government out- lawed it? Not sure, though, since | really couldn't care less.

Todd Zuniga

4

ом BIG LAUNCH 310

Wakeboarding Unleashed

| Developer: 989 Sports

MLB 2004

MLB 2004

Publisher: Sony CEA PSone MSRP: $2999 ESRB: Everyone

One thing about 9895 MLB series has always cracked me up in that I-remember-doing-that-in-little- league! way: When there's a man on second base, the shortstop or second baseman will cover the base until the pitch is thrown. In case you don't know, no one ever does that in the Bigs. Never.

But what can you expect? What this game accomplishes is updat- ing rosters so you don't have to. Is that worth $30? To some people, it is. But not to me. Because, besides the rosters, this is the exact same game as last year. So, since 989 did minimal work, | will, too! Here's a quote from last year's review that still holds true:

"There are reasons to own MLB [2004], but above all, it's the only baseball game on the PS1.”

And there you have it. It's the only one out right now. So buy it if you own a Р51 and like baseball. But, man, is the game slow.

For the rest of this space, Га like to talk about how | think the Chicago Cubs are to the aughts as the Atlanta Braves were to the “90s. Only with power instead of craftiness.

Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Matt Clement are an undeniably strong starting three, as Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux were a decade before. l'm not saying the Cubs are going to win their division this year (though they did start hot], but by next year, expect them to win 100 games a season for a few years in a row. Even after Sammy retires.

Then, finally, "Wait till next year" might actually mean "Repeat!"

4 | Todd Zuniga

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

"e uiii,

сс

what you're

thinking. You're thinking this is a sequel to Resident Evil Survivor, aren't you? You're think- ing it's going to stink up your liv- ing room the way that piece of crap did. You're thinking Capcom has lost its touch.

You're wrong.

Dead Aim is the most fun I've had with a Resident Evil game іп years. Yeah, sure, it has that campy writing and those god- awful voiceovers; it has that non- sensical level design and over- simplistic puzzle structure; and it has its share of control problems. In other words, yes, it is very much a Resident Evil game.

But it is most definitely not a Survivor game. Instead, picture the classic RE formula, only every time you take out a zombie, it's done in a first-person view by pointing a Guncon 2 at the screen and blasting away. Doesn't sound so bad when it’s put that way, does it?

In fact, it’s pretty good. The third-person view used for move- ment gives you a sense of your surroundings and makes control- ling your character a simple affair. And then when it's time to repaint the walls with zombie blood, it becomes a much more visceral experience, drawing you into the game like never before. It's like the best of both worlds.

Well, maybe not the best of both worlds. Even though the D- pad on the back of the Guncon 2 makes it possible to control third- person movement, that doesn’t mean it's easy. It didn't take me long to pick up my controller to see if | could use both at the same time. Whaddya know, you can! In fact, I'd say this is the ideal con- trol setup for the game: Hold the controller in your left hand and the gun in your right. Everything you'll need to do with the con- troller can be done with your left hand (tpe action buttons are L1 and L2], and all you really need to do with the gun is, well, shoot. It works surprisingly well, and not having to mess with the gun’s D-

74

02'15"44

=

pad let me get into the game that much more.

Even so, there are still some control issues. The old-school turn-and-walk control has been only slightly modified for the dynamic 3D environment, and it still feels a bit clunky. And why is it possible to sidestep in first-per- son mode but not move forward or backward? It’s silly.

You should also know that the game can be beaten fairly quickly if you play smart (think Fatal Frame and conserve your ammo). And by “quickly” | mean three to five hours. Of course, you get the standard RE goodies for finishing the game multiple times (includ- ing being able to choose your character at the beginning}, but that may seem like a small con- solation to many.

Still, there are some nice improvements to the formula here. It’s clear Capcom has taken some cues from Silent Hill (a good thing, if you ask me): There's a bit more of the psychological and a little less of the visceral—it's more creepy and less campy. Well, a little.

You won't want to play this with only a Dual Shock, but for those of us who have a Guncon 2 languishing on a dusty shelf, Dead Aim is very good news indeed. Joe Rybicki

CT T T.

RESIDENT EVIL DEAD AIM

Get into RE like never before

Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom MSRP: $4999 ESRB: Mature

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

00:00

U Tmn Í

AIR HOCKEY

Publisher: ZeniMax Media

Developer: Mud Duck

MSRP: $999 ESRB: Everyone

For me, there's always been a dis- connect between air hockey and intergalactic strife. But this game bridges the gap in a hurry. Win, and the world goes on. Lose, and the world ends. Can you really risk not playing this game? -T.Z.

dodo dod

Publisher: Agetec

Developer: Enterbrain

MSRP: $1499 ESRB: Teen

| think my cell phone is capable of producing something more techno- logically impressive and certainly more fun than this. It's like driving around in a shoe box that shoots Rubik's Cubes at cardboard cutouts of tanks and buildings. -J.D.

JIGSAW MADNESS Publisher: XS Games | Developer: Nipponichi Software MSRP: $999 ESRB: Everyone | On the back of this game's box, | there's a line that reads: "150 PUZ- | ZLES AND NO MISSING PIECES!"

That about sums up Jigsaw

Madness. Oh—there's also a mildly diverting two-player mode, com- | plete with power-ups. -G.S.

MONSTER BASS! Publisher: XS Games

Developer: Magical/Four Winds

MSRP: $999 ESRB: Everyone

If you think 10 bucks is a small price to pay for pure comedy, this overwrought, laughably overdra- matic fishing game will have you hooked. Otherwise, the strobo- scopic framerate and brainless gameplay will drive you away. -J.R.

[Ай TY: Wve PATRIOTIC PINBALL Publisher: Gotham Games Developer: Wildfire Studios

MSRP: $999 ESRB: Everyone

This game makes me want to puke. And before you go all Dixie Chicks on me, know this: I’m as patriotic as the next guy. But when you're hit over the head with just about every reference to U.S. patriotism ever— all at once—you would too. -S.K.

AIR FLO

Publisher: Nyko

MSRP: $2999 | Although this new Air Flo PS2 | controller features a better D-pad | and improved airflow, it still suffers | from poorly placed shoulder buttons. Ironically, this makes it all but unusable for the type of games that get you the sweatiest (such as fighting games). -S.K.

Manufacturer: Klipsch MSRP: $29999 I'm aware of the fact that 300 bucks isn't remotely close to the high end of the spectrum for all-in- one surround systems. If you go much lower, in fact, you're scrap- ing the bottom of the off-brand barrel. But it's still an awful lot to pay for a system with the limita- tions this one has.

The СМХ D-5.1, I'm sorry to say, is riddled with design flaws. | get the feeling the folks down at

| Klipsch didn’t think too much about

the fundamental differences between PC gaming (where the company made its name] and con- sole gaming. If they had, | don't know how they would have missed the fact that when you have a sound system hooked up to a con- sole that's attached to your TV, you need a frickin' remote. Or, at the very least, a 15-foot optical cable 50 you can have the volume соп-

| Promedia GMX D-5.1

trols close by. (You might not think access to the volume controls is a big feal, but in this case, it is: The system resets to its default vol-

ume every time you turn it off.] Of course, a 15-foot optical cable is a

| bit much to ask, considering the

package doesn't include any opti- cal cable. That's right, in spite of the fact

| that you need a digital optical cable

| to get 5.1 surround out of a PS2 (ог | an Xbox, for that matter), this $300

5.1 system doesn't include one. Someone didn't do his homework. Add to this the woefully short speaker wires and you have a nice- sounding system that may require a little creative redecorating to get situated properly. But then, | sup- pose you could always pick up some longer speaker wires while you're at Radio Shack buying that optical cable. Joe Rybicki

Remote Free

Manufacturer: Nyko

MSRP: $799

At first glance, this seems like one of the more intelligent ideas in peripheral design: Instead of mak- ing you buy yet another remote to clutter up your coffee table, Nyko came up with the idea of a pro- grammable (via a series of five tiny switches on the unit) remote receiv- er for the PS2 that works with the remotes you already have scattered all over your living room. And Nyko made it available for an extremely

| competitive price: just eight bucks.

There's a catch, though, and it's a big one: The Remote Free is specifically designed to work with DVD remotes. Now, think about that for a second. If you have a DVD remote, chances are pretty good you have a DVD player, too. And if you have a DVD player, why would you be watching DVDs on your PS2? This, it must be said, is one of the less intelligent ideas in periph- eral design.

However, there is a silver lining. Most newer TVs come with a basic programmable universal remote. And since the Remote Free will work with DVD remotes from Aiwa to Zenith, your TV remote will prob- ably have the ability to imitate one of the signals the Remote Free rec- ognizes. It'll take a bit more fid- dling than if the unit were set up to recognize, oh, | dunno, VCR remotes, but you should be able to find at least one manufacturer that your TV remote and the Remote Free can agree on.

And really, for eight bucks, it's not like it's going to break the bank. It's a cost-effective PS2 remote solution—as long as you already have the gear to support it. Joe Rybicki

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

00) Official USPlayStat

Inside Replay

104 Def Jam: Vendetta

Tired of toiling through Career mode? You want the easy path to every wrestler (and every girl) in the game? Look no further than these codes.

114 The Sims

There are a lot of possible jobs you can snare if you're going to be a master Sim, from stuntman to thief. Which one will you choose?

108 .hack//INFECTION

101 Amplitude

109 Dark Cloud 2

106 Essential Sports

113 Midnight Club II

116 MVP Baseball 2003

107 NBA2K3

107 NBALive 2003

112 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs 110 Splinter Cell

Strategy for the games that matter.

PS2 TRICKS AND REVIEW ARCHIVE

Game names in стееп indicate a Greatest Hits title. Ratings in red indicate a five-star score. A number @ indicates its rank in the top 15 best-selling PS2 games and top 5 best-selling PS1 titles.

-hack//INFECTION | Bandai PRSA -hack//MUTATION Bandai PERS

18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker Acclaim 999999 52 4x4 EVO GOD Games BRED 44 2002 FIFA World Cup EA Sports ФФФФ 58

Activision Anthology Activision ФФФФ 64 Aero Elite: Combat Academy Sega ФФФ 67 The Adventures of Cookie & Cream Agetec PEPI 44 Aggressive Inline Acclaim 99998 59 Airblade Namco ФФФФ 53 All-Star Baseball 2002 Acclaim BERI 44 All-Star Baseball 2003 Acclaim & $6 56 All-Star Baseball 2004 Acclaim ФФФ 67 Amplitude Sony СЕА PEES 68 Antz Extreme Racing Empire ®4 & Aqua Aqua 300 $$ 42 Arctic Thunder Midway ® 50 Armored Core 2 Agetec ФӨӨ 39 Armored Core 2: Another Age Agetec PARA 48 Armored Core 3 Agetec 9998 61 Army Men: Air Attack зро $$$ 44 Army Men: Green Rogue зоо $$ 45 Army Men RTS зро PERE 56 Army Men: Sarges Heroes 2 300 ФФ8 45

ATV Offroad Fury 2 Sony СЕА PEES 64 АТ\ Quad Power Racing 2 Acclaim BEES 66 Auto Modellista Capcom ФФЯ 69 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance Interplay PESSI 52 Barbarian Titus 999) 5 Bass Strike Virtual Fishing Tournament THO 99 5 Batman: Vengeance Ubi Sot BR® Ы Battle Engine Aquila Ман 98886 65 Black & Bruised Majesco ФФФФ 67 Blade Il Activision 62 Blood Omen 2 Fidos && $4 57 BloodRayne Majesco PERI 63 Bloody Roar 3 Activision RBI 47 BMX XXX Acclaim 998 6 Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter Capcom BRR 67 Britney's Dance Beat THO ФФФФ 58 The Bouncer Square EA BEE 42 Burnout Acclaim BERRI 52 Burnout 2: Point of Impact Acclaim ФФФФ 63 Cabelas Big Game Hunter Activision 988. 67 Capcom vs. SNK 2 Capcom 99990908 51 CART Fury Midway ® 4 Casper: Spirit Dimensions ТОК Mediactive 90998 | 50 Choplifter: Crisis Shield Ха ФФФ 6 City Crisis Таке 2 DED 48 Clock Tower 3 Capcom $&& 68 Colin McRae Rally 3 Codemasters PEREP 68 Commandos 2: Men of Courage idos 8% 62 Conflict: Desert Storm Gotham Games $8 в

104

SLAMMIN'

Def Jam: Vendetta

кезеннен UO Cones upon codes

Td

2 The playoffs are here

WORKIN'

The Sims All of the jobs youd ever want

Conflict Zone Ubi Soft 9999 63 Contra: Shattered Soldier Konami 09050908 64 Cool Boarders 2001 Sony СЕА ФФФФ 46

Dark Cloud 2 Sony CEA KERR 66

Dark Summit THO PASI 52 [Dave Mirra Frees Aalam BERG

DDRMAX Konami ФФФФ 63 Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore Тесто PAPPI 39 Dead to Rights Namco ФФФ 65

EA Sports Big ФФФФ 67

Oder Jam: Vendetta

rapple + 3)

Submission Defender Midway PESI 62

Eidos PAPPI 56

Deus Ex: The Conspiracy

Devil May Cry 2 Capcom $$$ 66 Dino Stalker Capcom & $$$ 61 Disaster Report Agetec & d 65 Disney Golf EA Games PEEP 61

Ubi Soft BRE в Sony СЕА PERI 64 Ubi Soft PASI 42

Disney's PK: Out of the Shadows Disney's Treasure Planet Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers

Downforce Titus BR 57 Dr. Muto Midway &&$ & Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Atari BRE 65 Dragon Rage зро 999 54 Drakan: The Ancients' Gates Sony CEA PERD 53 Driven Bam & 52

Driving Emotion Туре-5 Square ЕА BRI 4

Drome Racers EAGames @@9 64 Огорѕћір Bam $$$ . 57 Dual Hearts Atlus ФФФ 61 Dynasty Tactics Koei ФФФФЯ 61 Dynasty Warriors 2 Koei ФФФФ 38 Dynasty Warriors 3 Koei PARP 52 Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends Koei BARI 65

Koei 99999994 68

Орулаяу Warriors 4

e elephant saddle, you

node (must be in Musou mode

е Campaign а|

the re

е bar about or

report will appear. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future Acclaim $$ 56 Kemo 888 61 Empire 59 Konami ® 49 irasArts X X 4X 46 Konami PES 39 Konami PADS 54 Konami D 44

Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness Endgame

Ephemeral Fantasia

Escape From Monkey Island

ESPN International Track & Field

ESPN Intemational Winter Sports 2002 ESPN MLS Extra Time

Konami 908 45 Konami 8% 42 ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 Konami @@® 56 ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding Konami @®® 41 ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding 2002 Konami ФФФ 53 ESPN X Games Skateboarding Konami ФФФФ 49 Eternal Ring Agetec D 38 Eidos PG 56

ESPN National Hockey Night ESPN NBA 2Night

Eve of Extinction

Everblue 2 Capcom $$& 66 Evergrace Agetec 39 EverQuest Online Adventures Sony Online Ent. BRI 66 Evil Twin Ubi Soft 5 Evolution Skateboarding Konami 99904 63 Evolution Snowboarding Konami ® 65

Extermination Sony CEA DG 48

Extreme G Ш Acclaim BEES 50 Е1 2001 EASports BEERS 52 F12002 EA Sports BARSA 60 F1 Championship. Ubisoft BRR 43 F1 Championship Season 2000 EA Sports ФФЯ А Fantavision Sony СЕА ФФФФ 40 Fatal Frame Tecmo $$&& 55

Ferrari F355 Challenge FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer

Sega 0% 61 EA Sports @@999 39

НҒА 2002 EA Sports 99909084 51 FIFA Soccer 2003 EASports BEEBE 63 Fighter Maker 2 Agetec @4 64

Final Fantasy X Square EA KRERR 53

Fireblade Midway B@A 59 Fisherman's Challenge Konami 999 9 Forever Kingdom Agetec @4 5 Formula One 2001 Sony СЕА 90909 50 Freekstyle EA Sports Big PADD 59 Frequency Sony (EA BRI 52

Konami @% 5 Acclaim &&$ 46

Frogger: The Great Quest Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge

G1 Jockey 3 Koei RARI 69 Gadget Racers Conspiracy PARI 50 Galerians: Ash Sammy &$ 66 Gallop Racer Tecmo 48

Tecmo &&$ 69 Midway ФФФЧ 46 SonyCEA ФФФФ 66

be because it's ch

Gallop Racer 2003: A New Breed Gauntlet: Dark Legacy Тһе Getaway

Then you can tour

Giants: Citizen Kabuto

Interplay PASI 51 Koei REPI 53 300 $4 54

Konami 99909 39

Gitaroo-Man Godai: Elemental Force Gradius ІІ and IV

lard difficulty їе

Media Level Meter

AMPLITUDE

Mix it up

Slow it down now.

то quote Jay in Mallrats: "Snikt snikity snikt snikt snikti"

K2: WOLVERINE'S REVENGE

Feel like

Throw Sabretooth to the flame.

If you've played X2: Wolverine's Revenge, you know one thing: This game is tough! Here are some strategies for the tougher moments, bub.

1-4, Runt of the Litter

Your first boss fight is against Wolverine's archenemy, Sabretooth. Your first step toward defeating him is to wear him down, which results in the appearance of a hydrogen tank. You'll take a few hits, but the quickest way to do this is to directly engage Sabretooth until you can assault him with a Berserker Rage attack. Then, push him into the tank three times (most easily done if you hang out near the tank and then leap over him when he arrives]. Once he's down for the count, execute a final Strike!

2-3, Sealed In

After you've used your senses to get through the dark tunnel, you'll come to a room that requires you to pass a set of detonators in order to move to the next level. You can

MT

STRIKE!

These detonators are deadly.

do this in one of two ways:

1] Stealth kill your way up the stairs on the opposite side of the room until you reach a switch that deactivates the detonators, or

2) take them head-on by running and sliding underneath them. The end of the level is just ahead.

2-4, Grim Discoveries

Getting too close to the Wendigo means game over; to progress, you need to pick up dizzied soldiers and throw them his way. The easi- est way to dizzy a guard is to deliv- er a Punch + Kick + Kick combo, then pick him up with O when you see Strike! Approach the Wendigo with the soldier and throw him from a safe distance. Repeat this process throughout the level.

2-5, Wendigo's Cave

This boss fight is tough, due largely to the game's poor controls. You need to approach the Wendigo from behind, and when you see Strike! on his tail, pick him up. From there, move the left analog

Stick it to Lady Deathstrike!

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

a superhero, not a superchump

stick to gain momentum as you throw him. Unfortunately, you won't always be able to pick him up when you think you should be able to, so don't be surprised if this fight takes you awhile. The Wendigo is most vulnerable after his charge attacks and after he pounds his fists to the ground, causing crystals to fall from the ceiling {stay on the outskirts of the area or stand atop a crystal to dodge these).

34, Return to Weapon X

This level is one of the toughest you'll face—and also one of the longest. A few pointers:

+ Don't ever let the big gun spot you—it's instant death.

* After you climb the ladder, cross the bridge (with the large gun below to the left) and unlock the door ahead, you can use the next room to ambush a lot of guards with stealth kills. Walk into the open where they can see you, then head back inside with your back against the wall and wait for a string of stealth-kill victims.

Grab the \/епдїго% tail!

* Soon after this, you'll encounter a barracks where six guards sleep. Slash open the door as quietly as possible so you won't wake anyone, then stealth kill all six using one of the most painful death sequences us boring mortals can imagine.

* When you have control of the gun turret, don't worry about killing any guards—just aim for the box with the red light that's next to the electric fence (hold down © to disengage).

If you don’t want to worry about gun turrets in the room with the statue, disable them in the room where there's a large monitor and control panel to the left. To find the room, walk down the road that fol- lows the formerly electrified fence until you can turn left. Make the turn and then move toward the archway ahead of you, past two Humvees. Follow the ramp through the archway and turn right. Enter the garage door that opens and stay to the right. Continue past the crates, go up the ramp, kill the guards, and head through the doorway to the right.

Can you beat Sabretooth agai

3-5, Surprise!

Logan's second Sabretooth encounter occurs in three attack phases. In phase one, take him down the same way you did the first time you saw him. In phase two, Sabretooth attempts to throw flaming barrels at you. Normal attacks don't hurt him at this point, 50 stand ready to receive a shot but hit the barrel right back at him (this won't always work]. In the third attack wave, Sabretooth leaps high into the air and lands with a devastating flame attack. Keep an eye out for a green crosshair on the ground that indicates where he'll land. Go there, and when you see Strike! onscreen, hit O and he's toast.

44 through 4-5

Most of the fourth act essentially boils down to how good you are at using Stealth and Sense modes. It's a tough sequence of levels that only experience (or the cheat codes, also provided here] will help you with.

Fight Magneto with magnetism. Throw soldiers into his vortex.

Ж

4-6, Locomotion

The Juggernaut battle closely resembles Spider-Man's tussle with Rhino in the webslinger's first PS1 game. Success lies in guiding Xavier's half brother into the electrical posts around the force field (which doesn't affect Juggy enough to matter]. Once you do this, he's sent flying into the center of the arena, where Wolvie can punch him twice and then Strike! him. Juggernaut's attacks get tougher as the battle progresses, but the strategy remains the same...until the end, when it's time to Strike! Colossus for a little Fastball Special action.

47, Breaking the Barrier

Use your shooting skills to blast all sol- diers (the final two in the initial set appear on the platform, just slightly right of center). When you have a chance, aim for the globe that's dead ahead of you (part of it is shielded, so zoom in with the right analog stick to make sure you hit the unshielded portion). When you're told of incoming choppers, be sure to take out the new soldiers to your left before taking on the helicopter. Soldiers will continue to appear to your left—take 'em out and let the globe have it when you can.

51, Magnetic Pull Can't figure out how to keep Magneto from absorbing all the power from the generator? Just keep your eye on him. When both

hands aren't drawing power, one hand is moving a large metal vat that he wants to squash you with. You'll be able to hear when this happens—and when it does, one of the four power boxes will be left unshielded. Claw it up! Then repeat the process. The Master of Magnetism is less powerful if you successfully destroy all of the boxes.

Destroying Magneto's vortex sounds easy, but it's actually tough to execute. You need to pick up three mutant hunters and throw them into the vortex before Magneto reaches the fence.

5-2, Opposites Attract

This battle is tough! You must get to Magneto quickly or he'll destroy you in one blow. Dodge the debris and find him hovering at a certain spot in the environ- ment. There's a spot right ahead of him from which you can Jump attack + ®) and deliver a few blows. Watch out for his magnetic waves (break free with the left analog stick if they catch you] and repeat the attack process until you bring him down.

Act VI The Lady Deathstrike boss fight occurs in four waves. You have 10 minutes to com- plete all of them. Wave 1: Kick her ass until you've execut- ed a Strike! three times. Advance up the ladder. Wave 2: Destroy the four electricity boxes with blinking red lights on them, stopping to fight Deathstrike when necessary. To simplify Wave 3 a bit, wear her down before advancing to the next section. Wave 3: You should see six electric poles. The only way to hurt Yuriko here is to strike one while it is electrified and send the current her way. Be sure to dodge her electric attacks. Run up to the helipad once you've worn her out. Wave 4: Since you can't hurt her at all, guide Deathstrike to where it looks like you can push her off the build- ing—because you can Use your faster Fist attacks and Strike! her to end the game. (Then, take a good look at Rogue's butt.)

Beat Magneto to a pulp.

GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE Hovering Cars =, R2, ©, RI, L2, О, RI, R2

Strange Wheels R, @, ©, 9, к, ©, t, 4,0 Double Your Car Speed КІ, R2, L4, Ц, 4, $, =, t, 4, $, =, t Grandia Il Ubi Soft PESA 53 Grandia Xtreme Enix DODA 62 Gravity Games Bike: Street, Vert, Dirt Midway 8 а

GTC Africa Majesco DSI 58 Guilty Gear X Majesco/Sammy @®@@ 51 Guilty Gear X2 Sammy ФФФФ 66

Gungrave Sega BESI 61 Gungriffon Blaze Working Designs @@@¢ 39

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets EA Games @@@@ 64 Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland Natsume ФФФФ 51 Haven: Call of the King Midway EEDI 64

Headhunter Acclaim $&& | 57 Herdy Gerdy Eidos ФФФ | 56 Heroes of Might and Magic 300 6%8 46 Hidden Invasion Conspiracy 600%). 60 High Heat MLB 2002 зро PEES 44 High Heat MLB 2003 300 PORDI 55

Eidos $ed 63 Sony СЕА $$$ 55 THO $$ 64 Majesco 88 6

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Hot Shots Golf 3

Hot Wheels: Velocity X Hypersonic Xtreme

EA Games $$$d 65 Ubi Soft PAI 53

Island Extreme Stunts

Jade Cocoon 2

EA Games BRES 52

Activision PEDD 64 Siera ФФ 6

James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire. James Bond 007: NightFire James Сатегоп5 Dark Angel

Jeremy McGrath Supercross World Acclaim $ 8 Jet X20 Sony CEA $9 (өз Jonny Moseley Mad Trix зро $4. 54

The Jungle Book: Rhythm n' Groove Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.

Ubi Sot BRB 69 Universal Int. PASSI 68 Activision ФФФЯ 61

Kengo: Master of Bushido Crave 99% 42 Kessen EA Games @@@ 39 Kessen Il Koi ФФФ ы Kinetica Sony CEA BASDI 50 The King of Route 66 Sega DAD 67

King’s Field: The Ancient City Kingdom Hearts

Agetec 0% 55 Square EA ESDI 61 Namco 090008 47

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil

Knockout Kings 2001 ЕА Sports PPSS 42 Knockout Kings 2002 EA Sports PEES 55 Le Mans 24 Hours Infogrames 99908 48

Fresh Games 999. 6 Ubi Soft 98. 54

Legaia 2: Duel Saga The Legend of Alon D'ar

Legends of Wrestling Acclaim 094 5 Legends of Wrestling II Acclaim POS 65 Legion: The Legend of Excalibur Midway &&& 59 Lego Racers 2 Lego Media ®@9 51 Lethal Skies Sammy $$$ | 58

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Black Label PASG 63 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ҒА Games PASMA 63 Mad Maestro! Eidos/Fresh ФФФ 56 Madden NFL 2001 EA Sports $9 38 Madden NFL 2002 ЕА Sports PEERI 48

Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color The Mark of Kri

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2

Agetec PPDS 69 Sony СЕА $$ 59 Capcom BEER 61 Activision BESS 60

Max Payne Rockstar PEDS 53 Maximo: Ghosts to Glory Capcom ФФФЯ 54 MDK2 Armageddon Interplay 808406 45

Men in Black Il: Alien Escape

Infogrames 604 60 2

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

DEF JAM: VENDETTA

Every wrestler at your fingertips

Unlocking Vendetta's women in Story mode is great. Who wouldn't want to see those pic- Remember that every character has two If you're going to down D-Mob, use submis-

tures? (Although you should've seen the prerelease shots—so hot!) Just remember that you Blazin' moves. The second must be per- Sion moves. Throw him off the ropes and get don't have to pick a new girl every time. If you're loyal to one girl and she beats up a chal- formed from behind your victim. Oftentimes, him into a headlock. It'll empty his head lenger, you will still unlock the challenger's picture portfolio. Which is nice if you have a seri- the from-behind Blazin’ move is more effec- ^ health meter. Once that's depleted, use the

tive. In DMX's case, it's way cooler, too!

ous thing for Carla (like we do). move twice more. He'll give up.

Be. 17 т |. DMX loves to break off a li'l su

Getting jumped by the cowardly threesome stinks, but at least you only need to defeat one of them. The trick is to run for your life and fight only when necessary. When you finally bludgeon one of them into the Danger area, use your Blazin’ move against him for the KO and the win. Apparently, the other two are too afraid to fight at that point. Cowards.

ааыа...)

You're afraid of Pockets? Redman’s not.

Don't want to bother beating the game to unlock everyone? Leave it to OPM to dig up cheat

codes to unlock every wrestler (including those bombshells that are tough to win). Here's

how to unlock them:

* Go to Battle mode and select any type of match.

* Enter a User ID at the User Setups menu.

e Hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 at the Character Selection screen and quickly [time is short!) enter the following codes to unlock the corresponding thug.

and title the e-mail “Vendetta Hottie.”

Who's your favorite Vendetta hottie? Let us know at

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

ARII %,0,5,О,/0 MOSES 6,6,0,0,9 BRIGGS (ALTERNATE costume) | 9,2,0,0,О NORE. 002.90 BRIGGS (ALTERNATE COSTUME) 9,2,0,6,0 NYNE 0,0,9,9,6 CARLA %9,0,%,9,5%0 ОМАК О,0,0,8,8 CHUKKLEZ 0,0,8,9,0 OPAL О,0,0,0,8 CRUZ 0,08,9,%9,О0 РЕЕМЕЕ %,9,0,6,0 D-MOB 0,06,0,9,0 РЕЕМЕЕ (Ternate costume) | 59,0,0,0,О D-MOB (ALTERNATE COSTUME) 0,0,6,0,0 PENNY 9992.0 DANG @,0,8,0,0 POCKETS 6,0,0,0,9 DEEBO 0,0,%,%9,8 PROOF (ALTERNATE COSTUME) 9,0,5,0,0 DEJA ©,0,0,0,8 RAZOR 8,0,6,0,% DMX О,9,0,8,0 RAZOR (ALTERNATE COSTUME) 0,0,8,6,0 DRAKE 6,О,0,9,0 REDMAN 0,0,6,0,€ DRAKE (ALTERNATE COSTUME) %9,6,0,О,0 RUFFNECK 90.92.0 FUNKMASTER FLEX 0,6,О0,0,0 киғғмек (atrerNare costume) О,0О,0,9,0 HEADACHE 6,6,9,0,0 SCARFACE 0,0,9,6,0 CALIENTE! HOUSE 6,9,0,0,%9 SKETCH 6,6,0,0,& Carla is so hot ICEBERG 0,6,0,0,0 SNOWMAN 6,6,%9,9,0 Missing a chance to unlock a LUDACRIS ©,0,0,0,© SPIDER (ALTERNATE COSTUME) 0,8,%,0,0 pretty damsel stinks, but you MANNY (ALTERNATE COSTUME) O,0,0,0,O STEEL $,6,0,0,6 can remedy it with these codes. MASA $,0,6,0,0 TA 0,0,0,% 0 METHOD MAN 0,0,8,6,O ZAHEER 06,6,0,9,9

GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Metropolismania Natsume PEF 61

Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing Codemasters 58

Minority Report Activision SI 65 Mister Mosquito Eidos/Fresh PAI 56 MLB 2004 Sony CEA RES 67

MLB Slugfest 20-03 MLB Slugfest 20-04

Mobile Light Force 2

Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front.

Midway ®@®®@ 59 Midway ФФ 67 XS Games PEHI 69 Bandai PASI 61 Bandai & 48 Bandai ФФФ 54 Infogrames &&& | 65 Tecmo PERM 50

Monopoly Party Monster Rancher 3

Monsters, Inc. Sony CEA && d 55 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Midway PÈRE 64 ‘MotoGP Namco $$ 39 MotoGP2 Namco $$$ 53 MotoGP3 Namco PERSA 67 Motor Mayhem Infogrames $i, 47 MTV Music Generator 2 Codemasters BRR 46 The Mummy Returns Universal ®4 5 Music Maker Magix RERE 69 MVP Baseball 2003 EASports BESI 67 MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael THO $&*$* 47 MX Rider. Infogrames 999988 52 MX Superfly Featuring Ricky Carmichael THO ФФФЧ 59

Sony СЕА 9%% | 67 Ubi Soft RSI 63 Koei ERI 64 Namco DESI 53

My Street

Myst Il: Exile Mystic Heroes Namco Museum

NASCAR 2001. EA Sports @@9 |40 NASCAR Heat Infogrames PAPE 47 NASCAR Thunder 2002 ЕА Sports 90909048 51 NASCAR Thunder 2003 EA Sports DESEA 62

NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona Infogrames $$$ 63

а

Midway PED 44

МВА Hoopz

МВА Live 2001. ЕА Sports PRE | 42 МВА Live 2002 EA Sports e$. 5 NBA Live 2003 EASports ФФ 63 NBA ShootOut 2001 Sony CEA 90904 44 NBA ShootOut 2003 Sony CEA BEE вз NBA Starting Five

Konami 99908 6

PERFECT DUNKER Go to the Create Player screen and enter

HEADBAND as a user name.

TEAM BIG Go to the Enter User ID menu and get to the User Record

box (displays either a user ID's record information, or “no user

record"). Quickly hold L2 and press 8, &, 8, , 2. Or just get 10

wins.

NYC LEGENDS TEAM Go to the Enter User ID screen and get to the

User Record box. Hold L2 and press 8, 8, &, Left, ®.

TEAM STREET LEGENDS Go to the Enter User ID screen and get to

the User Record box. Hold R1 and press =, #, t, 8, 60. The team

includes Biggs, Bonafide, Drake, DJ, Takashi, Stretch, and Michael

Jordan.

TEAM DREAM Go to the Enter User ID screen and get to the User

Record box. Quickly hold R2 and press ft, t, =, =, 8. The team

includes Graylien Alien, Magma Man, and Yeti Snowman.

ALL COURTS In Hold the Court mode, go to the screen where you

choose your court. Hold R2 and press 8, 8, %, =>, =», 4, 8, t, and

while still holding 8, press 9.

Sega Sports PAPE 64

Sega Sports EEI 60 Sony CEA & а

989 Sports 908 52

Sony СЕА EEI | 64 EA Sports 99909809 48

NCAA College Basketball 2K3 NCAA College Football 2K3 NCAA Final Four 2001

NCAA Final Four 2002

NCAA Final Four 2003

NCAA Football 2002

GAME

NCAA GameBreaker 2001 NCAA GameBreaker 2003 NCAA March Madness 2002 NCAA March Madness 2003

E ERN нн.

NFL Blitz 20-02

NFL Blitz 20-03

NFL GameDay 2001

NFL GameDay 2002

NFL GameDay 2003

NFL Quarterback Club 2001 NHL 2001

NHL 2002

NHL 2003

NHL FaceOff 2001 NHL FaceOff 2003 NHL Hitz 20-02

NHL Hitz 20-03

Ninja Assault

No One Lives Forever Okage: Shadow King Oni

Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny Orphen: Scion of Sorcery Pac-Man Fever

Pac-Man World 2

PaRappa the Rapper 2 Paris-Dakar Rally

Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat Portal Runner

The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage Pride FC

Primal

Pro Race Driver

Project Eden

Capcom |

CE

Sony CEA @% 4 Sony CEA 90%) в EA Sports PAR 5 EA Sports &&& 64

—SegaSports && 6$ 52 Sega Sports PEPSI 60

Midway $$$ 55 Midway $$$ 60 Sony CEA ® 40 Sony CEA 06 5 Sony CEA DPI ва Acclaim @@@ 50 EA Sports &&&$ 38 EA Sports 90999909 50 EA Sports PSI 63

Sony CEA DEPI 43 Sony CEA && 64 Midway PASS 51 Midway PEDDI 62

Namco ФЕЧ 61

Sierra PAPI 56 Sony СЕА 90% 5 Rockstar 68 43

Capcom $$$ 60 Activision BBB 39 Namco 099 60 Namco EEDI 54 Sony СЕА ФФФЯ 53

Acclaim 09 5 EA Games PASG 55 300 $$ 50

Bam 8% 6 THO ФФФФ 65

Sony СЕА $$ 68

Codemasters 90999909 65

Eidos ФФФЯ 52

Pryzm Chapter Опе: The Dark Unicorn TDK Mediactive ®@@ 60

PTO. IV Q-Ball Billiards Master

Quake Ш Revolution

Rally Fusion: Race of Champions

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc Rayman Arena

RC Revenge Pro

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 Real Pool

Red Card Soccer 20-03

Red Faction Il

Reign of Fire.

Rez Ridge Racer V

Riding Spirits

Ring of Red

RLH: Run Like Hell

Road Trip

Rocky

Robot Alchemic Drive.

Robotech: Battlecry

Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII Rugby

Rumble Racing

Rune: Viking Warlord

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure.

Salt Lake 2002

Savage Skies

Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights

The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian

BR:

Koei PEP 66 Таке 2 @999 40 ЕА Games PESSE 44 Activision &&$ 64

Ubi Sot ФФФЯ 67 Ubi Soft PERE 57 Acclaim ФЭН л Midway BAES 40

Infogrames 999904 40

Midway 00%

THO PERS 63 Bam $&&$ 63 m 90998958 48 Sega PADI 53 Namco PERDI 38 Bam ФФЖЗ 61 Konami PPPS 43 Interplay PAS 62 Conspiracy BRBB 61 Ubi Sot &&&$ 64

Enix ФФФФ 63 ТОК $$$ 62 Koei 9098 60

EA Sports BAPI 48 EA Games && $4 45 Таке 2 9098 48 Tecmo PADI 64

Eidos &&d 55 Bam DES 56 THQ ФФФ 58

Universal 99. 62

FORUM

GTA: VICE CITY BOAT CHASE When you're in a boat in Vice City and the cops are after you press ©. All the VCPD Predators (boats) will stop chasing you. They'll idle around and bounce on the waves like nothing's hap- pening, no matter how high your want- ed level is. Take this time to blow them to smithereens; they won't care. Then make your escape. lan King dr. poiuytía hotmail.com

GTA VICE CITY: HIDDEN SCHOONER Want to find a really nice boat? It’s hidden. Take a boat to the second island and cruise to the docks. Find the ship where the Print Works mission takes place. Go to the back of it and follow the main- land. The secret boat is underneath a tall dock. It's called the Coast Guard, and it's very maneuver- able and quite fast. Unfortunately, it's tricky to jump into (and impossible to do so from the dock). lan King dr. poiuytía hotmail.com

GTA VICE CITY:

BIG GUN COMES IN SMALL PACKAGE To find the minigun, go to Little Haiti, where you blew up that Haitan gang building in the Café missions. The gun is on the small section of the roof. To get there, you'll have to jump over the stairs and walk across it's pretty tricky], or you can try not to blow up your helicopter when you land. Axx Dunmire wickedaxfamsn.com

GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Seek and Destroy Sega Bass Fishing Duel Sega Soccer Slam

Conspiracy $$ 66 Sega 600 62 Sega Sports 60%. 62

Sega Sports Tennis Sega Sports 00%9%6 60 Shadow Hearts Midway ФФФФ 52 Shadow of Destiny Konami && $4 43 Shadow Man: 2econd Coming Acclaim $$. 5 Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder 5 Shifters 58 Shinobi Sega DODI Shox EA Sports Big ФФФ9 63 Shrek Super Party ТОК Mediactive @@@ 64

ilent Hil -— Konami 600 50 Silent Scope Konami $$ 39 Silent Scope 2 Konami 60996 49 Silent Scope 3 Konami DESA 62

Working Desi

Silpheed: The Lost Planet

igns & $ed 40

EA Games 06 64 Orne sims EAGames ФФФФ 65 YOU BIG CHEATER At the Main menu, press all four shoulder but- tons at once. It'll pull up the Cheat menu. From there, enter these codes for the following unlocks;

MIDAS | All 2P games, all locked objects, and all locked skins FREEALL Makes all objects cost zero Simoleans

PARTY М Party Motel two-player game

ЯМ5 | Play The Sims mode opened without going through (һе

Get a Life Dream House

Sky Gunner Atlus BOPI 58 Sky Odyssey Activision &&& |40 Sled Storm

EABig RE 55

‘Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament Namco Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory Rockstar 99999 52 Soccer America: International Сир HotB DS 48 Soccer Mania EA/Lego ФФФЯ 59

UNLOCK LEVEL SELECT Beat the game on the Lieutenant Junior Grade rank to unlock the Level Select option.

UNLOCK THE MULTIPLE GRENADE LAUNCHER То unlock the MGL (Multiple Grenade Launcher), just beat the game three times.

USE TERRORIST WEAPONS Beat the game with an Ensign rank.

Soldier of Fortune Majesco ФФФ 52

Soul Reaver 2 Eidos ФФФ 52 Space Race Infogrames 94 59 Spider-Man Activision 99999908 57 Splashdown Infogrames SSS 52 Splinter Cell Sony СЕА PEDDI 68

‘Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly Vivendi Universal

Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force 5 Star Wars Bounty Hunter. LucasArts $$ 64 Star Wars The Clone Wars LucasArts ФФФ 65

LucasArts 6%. 45 LucasArts $94 56 LucasArts @®@@@ 55

Star Wars Super Bombad Racing Star Wars Jedi Starfighter Star Wars Racer Revenge

State of Emergency

Stitch: Experiment 626

Street Fighter EX 3

Street Hoops Activision @@@@ 60 Stretch Panic Conspiracy 9006 47 Stuntman Infogrames/Atari POD 59 Sub Rebellion Metro 3D POSS 62 Suikoden ІІ Konami ФФФ єз Summoner THO $$$ 9 Summoner 2 THO ФФФЧ 62 Sunny Garcia Surfing Ubi Soft ФФФЯ 51 Super Bust-A-Move каат $99 д Super Bust-A-Move 2 Ubi Sot SPPE өз

Supercar Street Challenge Activision 6098 52

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine

Title the e-mail: Essential Sports.

What's your favorite sports game on PS2? Think hard and tell us:

ESSENTIAL SPORTS

Must-have sports games for your athletic needs

It's been a huge year for console sports. This is the first-ever year in ОРМ storied history in which every one of the major five sports could boast a game that scored a perfect five-star rating. The games' arcade complements ruled, too.

MSRP: $4999 High Heat 2004 is the best bargain in games. A full 162-game season will last you about 90 hours. Don't think you'll play a full season? Ha! After 10 games, you'll thirst for a shot at Williams’ .406, Bonds’ 73, and Hack Wilson's 191. Quick tip: Take back glitch runs s a few glitches we didn't see when we reviewed it. Luckily, there's a way around giving up a weird run. Here's how: e Pause the game and press ©, ©, ©, О, L1, R1. Then press L1 + L2 + RT + R2. * At the new menu, go into the Game State mode to change the inning and/or score.

PlayStation.

MSRP: $4999

Every year, Madden makes strides to

continue a tradition as the best football

game (and arguably the best in sports].

This year Madden has so many goodies,

it's worthy of the crown-jewel moniker.

Quick Tip: Cheat at camp

> M| The minicamps can be tough. Use this to

make life easier:

* Turn off autosave.

* Save your rosters as Cheat.

* Go to the Cheat rosters and edit the players in the minicamps. In the case of the Ground Attack, raise Emmitt Smith's stats to 99, then lower the defenders' (Dat Nguyen and Roy Williams] rat- ings.

* Load Cheat rosters and serve.

MSRP: $4999 NCAA's sophomore season earns a

solid 4.0 GPA. Schedule creation, Create-a-School, and the trophy room make this a clear winner. Quick tip: Create-A-Team nicknames Use these nicknames for your create- a-team, and they will be recognized and announced. Bison Hilltoppers Pride Black Bears Lumberjacks Skyhawks Colonels Minutemen Spiders Comets Outlaws Terriers Explorers Peacocks Tribe Playstation.2 [I m MSRP: $4999

About every four years a game redefines the way videogame hockey is played. NHL 2K3 is now the game carrying that torch. It's so good that any other hockey game purchase is money misspent. Quick Tip: Puck with these sliders Remember to cycle, cycle, cycle. You'll need to get the puck and pass it into the corner (or dump it in). Then get to the puck and pass it behind the net, and

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

grab it again and pass it to the corner. Sound boring? It's not so bad; it's called grinding, and it'll tucker out the defense and give you good opportunities in front of the net for successful one-timers.

MSRP: $4999 Everything you get in МВА 2K3, you earn. From one-handed dunks to fallaway 15- footers, from bucket-stopping blocks to Sticky-fingered steals, you're in com- plete control. Go ahead and score 44 with Iverson. You'll see. Quick tip: Three hidden teams * Go to Options and select Game Options. Press and hold Left on the D-pad and Right on the left analog stick. Press Start. Exit the menu; you should see codes at the bottom of the screen. * Go to the Codes screen and enter MEGASTARS to unlock the three secret teams.

Za

winning 1223 PN a

fa

MSRP: $3999 This is one of the finest sports sims out there. In Europe and Japan, where soccer is chopped up into tiny bits and put in their food, it out- sells EA's FIFA. If you like soccer, play it. If you love foot- ball, buy it.

Quick tip: Keepers and aerial play

Try the lofted through-pass. Hold L1 and tap ©. Your pass will go airborne, over defenders. It's less accurate, but we think it's doubly effective—it's tougher to intercept, and it's brilliant when you're on a 2-on-1 break.

NBA Street Vol. 2

Jedes dese. MSRP: $4999

It's a rare game that sophisticated- ly blends culture and gaming, but it's a rarer game still that blends culture, brilliant gameplay, and sports. Hoops fan or not, culture- enthusiast or no, you can't resist Vol. 2. It's a PS2 must-own.

Quick Tip: Handing out headaches

* Run up the court with your best Handles man... * ...but don’t use Turbo.

* Break off a Turbo dribble and knock down your

defender.

* Hold down both Turbo buttons and press A to pass the ball off his head and back to yourself.

* Do it again. And again. And again.

* Cut to the hoop and get dunkadelic.

* Your Gamebreaker meter will soar.

Quick Tip: Take a Tylenol

* If someone keeps popping the ball off your lid with Off the Hezay, run for it, literally. After one or two moves, you'll inch far enough away to cause him to pass the ball wildly, allowing you to pick it up.

* If you can, use a Trick Counter to stop him right of the bat. But if that doesn't fly, run.

PlayStation.

MLB Slugfest 20-04

PPPE MSRP: $4999

Bigger rosters and more player attributes will please baseball diehards, but hot chicks on the loading screens, madcap commen- tary, and an all-new Special Pitch will keep arcade enthusiasts hap- pier than this years Royals fan.

The first number is O, the middle number is $, and the right number is ©. The Cheat screen will be up for only a short time, though, so be quick.

0,0,4, f Log Bat 0,0,2, t Blade Bat 0,0, 1, Bone Bat

0,0,3, t Ice Bat 0,0,5, f Spike Bat 0, 0, 4, Mace Bat

0,0,4, Wiffle Bat

PlayStation. |

NHL Hitz 20-03 PEERI MSRP: $4999 When the puck drops, Hitz is just plain arcade fun. And having fun is the point. Hockey's the perfect gaming sport, and Hitz shows why. Quick Tip: Unlimited Franchise mode equipment Play a World Team in Franchise mode to receive new equipment to better your players. If you play a World Team more than once, you can continue to gain equipment. This works well when you have completed Franchise and want to max out your team.

САМЕ PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Май DOI 63

Surfing H30 Rockstar 40 Swing Away Golf EA Games PES 38 Tarzan: Untamed Ubisoft PAI 52 Taz: Wanted Infogrames RESI 60 Теккеп 4 Namco ФФФЯ 61 Tekken Tag 7 Name! $ed 39

@ Tenchu: wrath of Heaven Activision &&$ 67 BAMBOO FOREST SECRET Crouch in the hot-water springs to restore you health.

INCREASE ITEMS At the ltem Selection screen, hold R2 + L2 while pressing ©, ©, ©, ft, €, 4,9.

RESTORE HEALTH Pause the game and press 8, $, +, 4, ©, 9,0.

UNLOCK ALL CHARACTERS At the Title screen, press 11, R2, L2, RI, =, * 13, R3.

UNLOCK ALL ITEMS At the Item Selection screen, hold RI + 11 while pressing t, ©, O, *, ©, O, +, O, O, +, O, O.

UNLOCK ALL LAYOUTS At the Mission Selection screen, press R3, 13, R2, L2, R1, Li.

UNLOCK ALL MISSIONS At the Mission Selection screen, press 11, R1, L2, R2, =, ©, L3, ЕЗ.

UNLOCK BONUS STAGE At the Title screen, press 11, 9,829.

The Terminator: Dawn of Fate Май 99908: 63 Test Drive Infogrames 0804 58 Test Drive Off-Road: Wide Open Infogrames PAS 48 Tetris Worlds. THQ %% 5 Theme Park Roller Coaster EA Games EEP 41 The Thing Universal 80404 62 Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix Eidos 098 52 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 EA Sports 99909) 44 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 EA Sports 600%) 55 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 ЕА Sports 99999098 63 Time Crisis 2 Namco PESE 49 Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero Crave BRI 45 (тог clancy's Ghost Recon Ubisoft PERI 65

‘SUPERMAN Enter on in-game pause menu: L1, R2, L2, R1, Select UNLOCK ALL MISSIONS Enter on Title screen: 99, 12, Æ, R2, Select UNLOCK ALL SPECIAL FEATURES Enter on Title screen: L1, L2, К1,

Top Angler Kicat DERA 57 Top Gear Dare Devil Kemo ФФФЯ 41 Top Gun: Combat Zones Titus PS 50

Total Immersion Racing Empire & 66 Transworld Surf Infogrames PÈSI 57 Tribes: Aerial Assault Sierra DORA 62 Triple Play 2002 EA Sports @@ 55 Triple Play Baseball EA Sports 45 Tsuganai: Atonement Atlus ®@®® | 53

Acclaim 98 62

Turok: Evolution

| Metal: Black Twisted Metal: Black Online Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

SCEA PEDD 61 EA Games &&& 62

UFC Throwdown Infogrames BREE 58 Unison Tecmo SEP 44 Unreal Tournament Infogrames 8098 40 V-Rally 3 Infogrames PAPI 64 Vampire Night Namco $$$ 52 Vexx Acclaim @@ 6 Victorious Boxers 5 Virtua Ғемеге 000 9

War Jetz 48 Warriors of Might & Magic зро ФЕЧ | 44 Wave Rally Eidos 64 5 Way of the Samurai Bam EEI 59 Whirl Tour Vivendi Universal 80%; в Whiteout Konami ® 65

Wild Arms 3 Sony СЕА PEPI 62

САМЕ PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Wild Wild Racing Interplay #®® | 39

Winback Koei ФФ 43 Wipeout Fusion Bam PASHI 57 Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land Atlus BBB 53

Woody Woodpecker: Buzz Buzzard Park Dreamcatcher 808060 57 World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks зро ФФФ | 42 World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars Infogrames ® 55 World Series Baseball 23 Sega Sports PSE 67

World Tour Soccer 2002 Sony CEA PEES 53 World Tour Soccer 2003 Sony СЕА PEPE 65 Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions Activision dee. 63 WTA Tour Tennis Konami ® 5 WWE Crush Hour THO DRI 68 WWE SmackDown!: Shut Your Mouth THO ERG 64 WWE SmackDown}: Just Bring It "THQ 998387 52 X-Men: Next Dimension Activision PEPPI 64 X Squad EA Games RPI 38

X2: Wolverine Revenge Activision 80048 | 69 Ө кепозава: Episode 1—Der Wille Zur Macht_ Namco & 66

DECODER *8 When visiting the Dock Colony for the first time, a

woman will tell you about her husband losing a Fish Detector.

* Go to the Kukai Foundation’s cleaning place and inspect the tuxe- do to find the Fish Detector.

* Talk to the girl in the Iron Man bar sitting at the lower-left table. She says that she lost an important ring and asks you to find it.

* Go to the Private Beach and go in the water where the fish show up on the radar screen. Run up to every fish and press Circle. Sometimes you will get an item, and sometimes you won't. You can get a med kit, a speed stim, and the engagement ring. If you return to the beach, the Med Kit, and Speed Stim will be there again.

* Give the ring back to the girl in the bar. She will give you the Decoder *8 to open the red door.

Yanya Caballista: City Skater Koei PPI 49 Ovu-ci-oni: The Duelists of the Roses Konami 99999 67

ALL DUELISTS Complete both White and Red Rose to unlock all

the duelists.

MAP EDIT Successfully finish both the Red Rose and the White Rose

Stories to unlock Map Edit in the custom duel. This allows you to

create your own duel field.

Zapper Infogrames BBG | 64 Z.OE: Zone of the Enders Konami PARSI 44 Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Konami 99908088 68

PS1 TRICKS AND REVIEW ARCHIVE

007 Racing EA Games &&& 41 3Xtreme 989 Studios ® 21 40 Winks GT Interactive BERR 28 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue Fidos ФФФЧ (1 2002 FIFA World Cup EA Sports PRES

‘A Bugs Life Sony БА $E |

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere Namco PÈS 31 Aces of the Air Agetec 8 64 Action Bass Таке 2 8%. 37

Hasbro BBB 41

Crystal Dynamics $$$ | 18 Sony CEA && 45 Rockstar @ 2

Action Man: Operation Extreme Akuji the Heartless

Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge Alexi Lalas International Soccer Alien Resurrection Fox Interactive GP |38 All-Star Slammin’ D-ball Agetec BRE | 56 Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare Infogrames 80900 47

Alundra Working Designs PESHI 4 Alundra 2 Activision @®®@ 32 The Amazing Virtual Sea-Monkeys Conspiracy 988 66 Animaniacs Ten Pin Alley ASC BRR 17

Animorphs: Shattered Reality Infogrames 04 ‘ApeEscape 5 5 Sony CEA EER

Apocalypse Activision @@

NBA PLAYOFFS

Hot tips for NBA 2K3 and NBA Live 2003

Fabolous

Busta Rhymes

She'll cheer you on!

RPGs FOR YOU AND ME

So much gameplay, so little time. We help you experience it all

We asked the folks at Agetec to help us cobble together an Armored Core mech. Wanna build one yourself? Follow these steps!

@ You start off with a blank page in the doodle book. The character in the lower-left-hand corner is your drawing tool, the Pengel. The number on the lower-right-hand side is the amount of a selected color available. The line bordering the screen indicates how much drawing ability you have available.

Ө This is the body of the doodle,

which is the first and most impor- tant part. If you have no body, you have no doodle. Since this is an

Armored Core-style doodle, we're using a square shape.

Q The part that's being added is from the hard-part palette. These immobile parts can be anything from horns to torsos. A hard part moves in conjunction with the part it's attached to, but when it's alone, it has no movement.

Ө Ө неге, we see additional hard parts being used to create the upper legs connected to the torso. The hard parts attached to each other will have a single solid move- ment that'll work with the move-

ӨӨ Now we can see legs form- ing from the leg-part palette. There can be up to six legs added to a single doodle; depending on their placement, they may move independently.

Ө Draw the head using the head- part palette. Adding a head to a doodle can increase the chance of avoiding Status effects, which are part of almost all spells. If you add a mouth to the head, you'll also gain some new techniques.

© @ Here, additional hard parts are added to create shoulders for the arms.

Ф From the shoulders, we can add arms using the arm-part palette. Just like the leg parts, you can have up to six arms. Arms can open up some devastating attacks, like Double Punch.

(D Add any weapon you wish by using the weapon palette. Weapons can be used to strike your oppo- nent, like with a club, or can be thrown like a boomerang that returns to you after it has struck your enemy with a harsh blow.

Ө Again, we're using the hard-

part palette to create spikes, which can boost your stats. It also makes your doodle look quite intimidating.

© Now we're using hard parts to create toes and knees, giving more detail to the doodle's movement.

(B Throw in some antennae to for the AC's radar capabilities.

Ф Use the hard palette to create the optical sensor on the head.

ӨӨ Now finish up with the design palette, which you can use to add а wide range of detail to your doodle, Such as eyes on the optical sensor or an emblem on the body. Design parts are great for adding details, but they can also dramatically increase your stats.

ment of the body. ө ө o e

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talk about you at the next OPM party. We promise.

as trade bait.)

$ H 3 Е H i H

Official 05, PlayStation Magazine

-hack (any game іп the series)

DEMYSTIFYING THE SPRING OF MYST

Every now and then, you'll stumble onto a Spring of Myst while wandering through a field. Toss in a weapon or piece of armor and a teardrop-shaped critter pops up, and asks you whether the item was a Golden Axe or a Silver Axe. Respond with “Neither,” and you'll sometimes get a much-improved item

in return. (You can also say “Golden Axe" or “Silver Ах;

which will give you an item that’s only marginally useful

So, how do you know if you'll get something better? Easy—it all depends on the weather. Check out the handy table to get a read on how the atmosphere affects the Spring

of Myst.

If you're looking for a Spring of Myst, keep in mind that you'll find them only in the following areas: Grassland, Wilderness, Leaf Mold, Desert, and Earth. Also, the upgrade potential of any item caps out depending on the level of the Grampa or Monsieur inhabiting the Spring. Don’t worry, though: If you toss in an item that’s too powerful for the Spring to upgrade, it'll be returned to you along with a bonus Silver Axe and Golden Axe.

For help with the Spring of Myst, we turned to the fount o know as Brady Games. www.bradygames.com

+2 levels -1 level

+1 level +1 level +1 level +1 level +2 levels -1 level -1 level +2 levels -1 level +2 levels

-1 level

formation otherwise

DID YOU KNOW? QUICK CASH

In Dark Cloud 2, you can level-up your In Xenosaga, the fastest way to get flush is by playing poker in the casino. golf clubs just like you do for your weapons! Always go double-or-nothing and you're sure to win big-time.

Da wk Cloud 2 тээ Thanks to the fine

folks at Prima for

Last г»-эопіһ, we told you how to build up all of Max's that's lower than level 5, or you'll get an unstable Synth helping us build weap c2 ms. This month, we guide you through Monica's swords | Sphere that might not boost your stats at all. Also, if you're up some slick

and т» agic. While we're at it, a few quick pointers on spectru- ^ running short on Synthesis Points, try this trick: Defeat a foe | PRIMA | Eu a mizingy your weapons: First, never spectrumize a weapon with one character, then switch characters to collect the ABS | 11:49 | 2ps Дар Эр

crystals. That way, whoever picks up the crystals will earn

ЕЛМИ MATE Бата ПАЛЕ experience for the weapons in both hands, rather than just " agames.com SONS the weapon that defeated the enemy.

МОНФк А'5 MAGIC м aG IC » GOLD > CRYSTAL PLATINUM ATHENA’ MOBIUS BRAS=SARD BRASSARD BRASSARD BRASSARD AMULET BANGLE I M | BANDIT BRASSARD

SPIRIT GODDESS ANGEL BRASSARD BRASSARD SHOOTER

DESTRUCTION $АТАМ FIVE-STAR BRASSARD BRASSARD ARMLET

MOON STAR е ARMLE ARMLET

МОМІС A.'S SWORDS

BASTARD CROSS SWORD OF —————À : + ^ 5. ^ E > ЕГІ RULAR'S CHRONI i го EU 2 > BRAVE ARK SWORD fa sword CHRONICLE 2

ATLAMILLIA Нэн 2 Е r ТЕЛІ SWORD

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HALLOWEEN » SHINING ) BLADE BRAVADO ^

* > ЖЕ ANTIQUE f 7 BRANCH BREAKI SWORD SWORD xX SERPENT AMANO ? r BESE , Қ

» Bids |

DRAIN DARK GRIFFON MAD AN GARAYAN ) MARDAN Ноо

Official 0.5. PlayStation Magazine (о)

Chinese Embassy

Q: How do | get through the sewers without getting shot?

SPLINTER CELL

Frequently asked questions for storming the Chinese Embass

When you enter the sewers, ready a smoke grenade. As you move forward, keep an eye out for a couple of soldiers far ahead of you. When you see them, fire the smoke grenade.

Q: How do | keep from getting caught as | walk through the truck gate?

One more guard will appear. When he starts to investigate the bodies, run forward and elbow him.

They'll start gagging, so you can run toward them and knock them out with your elbow. Two down...now recede into the darkness and crouch.

Keep to the shadows and don't veer from the walls, unless you absolutely have to.

Chinese Embassy I

Q: How do | get through that big room with the three turrets?

Turn on your mic; aim it at the window that the camera panned to in the cut-scene.

Either way, stay to the right and stay in the shadows. Follow the wall until you reach a

Pass the gate, stay to the right, and creep under the truck that’s in front of you. Theres

When the car drives away, creep around the to the buildings entrance to get t6the Гаў

a guard on post there; you can either knock courtyard. When the chat ends, get ready topim the side of the courtyard. After you climb over

him out with a sticky shocker (which is the mic at the limo that pulls up. the breach in the wall, the mission ends:

easy way to handle things) or sneak past :

him when he turns his back (which is the DCN 1

hard way).

pond

After you exit the room with the sleeping soldiers, put an optic cable under the door in front of you. Do not enter the next hall- way until its clear.

When hes close to the camera, release the gas to incapacitate him. Turn off the gun in the comer. Run to the box when the turret gun is facing away from you.

Hide the soldiers body, then shoot out as many of the lights in the room as you сап.

Go up to the keypad and put on your gog- gles. The orange key represents the location of your finger. Press the buttons in the fol- lowing order: light blue, dark blue, green, yellow.

The door will open. Fire a diversion camera at the bottom of the stairwell. Press the noise button to get the attention of the guard in the room.

Don't go up the stairs. Look for a bookshelf along the near wall, Pull yourself onto it and get to the second floor from there; you'll wind up behind a second turret gun.

Seriously, who's itchin' to get Sam Fisher wallpaper?

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

After dispatching an approaching guard with your gun, grab onto the flagpole and shimmy toward the other platform. Stop when youre behind the last flag. A guard and a colonel will pass; the colonel will stay behind as the guard exits the area. When the colonels back is turned, shimmy up behind him, perform a silent drop (hit Crouch while dropping), then sneak up and grab him. Force him to use the retinal scanner, then knock him out.

Theres one guard left in the next room. Kill him, then slide open the window to get outside,

"Colin McRae 3 is gorgeous. The graphics are

beautiful, the sound effects are spectacular, and the overall presentation is extremely stylish."

GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE REPLAY GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE Arc the Lad Collection Working Designs 90999999 52 Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 THO ФФФФ 31 | REPLAY | Dead or Alive Tecmo 09966 8 Arcade Party Рак Midway PAI 28 Bug Riders GT Interactive 999) 3 FO RU M Deathtrap Dungeon Eidos 99999 9 Arcade's Greatest Hits: Atari Collection 2 Midway 90999 7 Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters Infogrames DBAS 4 Deception Ш: Dark Delusion Tecmo ФФФФ 31 Асаае5 Greatest Hits: Midway Collection 2 Midway ®® 4 Bugs Bunny: Lost In Time Infogrames ФФФ9 23 Delta Force: Urban Warfare Novalogic 600%) 61 Armored Core Sony СЕА PEDI 3 Builder's Block Jaleo PADI 35 GTA VICE CITY: Demolition Racer Infogrames 096 26 Armored Core: Master of Arena. Agetec DDI 31. Burstrick Wake Boarding! Natsume 64 45 EVERY SHOT COUNTS Destrega Koei POSS 16 Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. Acclaim 8 35 Bushido Blade 2 Square EA 09686 14 | found a way to Destruction Derby Raw Midway @®®@ 39

Bust A Groove 989 Studios ФФФФ 16 achieve а 100 percent Devil Dice THO $ed 13 Army Men: Air Attack. 300 &** 27 Bust A Groove 2 Enix DHD 36 Accuracy rating in Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab? Bam DAPI 59 Army Men: Air Attack 2 300 Ф999 39 Bust-A-Move 4 Natsume ФФФФ 17 Vice City. Diablo Electronic Arts ФФФФ 8 Army Men: Green Rogue зро 909 47 Bust-A-Move 99 Acdaim 60% 9 * Go to Vercetti's Die Hard Trilogy: Viva Las Vegas. Fox Interactive ' з Army Меп: Sarge's Heroes. 300 998) 32 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Activision ®@9 | 39 mansion on Starfish Digimon Digital Card Battle Bandai @@® 48

Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 300 998 40 С Тһе Contra Adventure Konami 999 2 Island and hop into Digimon Rumble Arena Bandai DOSE 55 Army Men: World War 300 999 34 c12: Final Resistance Sony CEA 9998 58 the Sea Sparrow. Digimon World Bandai 98: 36 Army Men: World War - Final Front зро 98 45 Caesar's Palace 2000 Interplay 8 а e Take it for а spin, Digimon World 2 Bandai 46 Army Men: World War - Land, Sea, Air 300 $4 39 Савва Palace Il Interplay 609). 5 then land it so it's Digimon World 3 Bandai 694 57 Arthur! Ready to Race The Learning Co. ® 42 Capcom vs. SNK Pro Capcom PASI 60 facing another vehi- Dino Crisis Capcom ФФФФ 25 Assault Midway pu 15 Card Games Agetec 98 50 cle. Dino Crisis 2 Capcom ФФФФЯЧ 38

ister Cardinal SYN Sony CEA ФФФ 9 e Fire the Sea Disney's Dinosaur Ubi Soft 64 36

Atari асу Edition Redux Infogrames DD 53 CART World Series Sony CEA PAPE 3 Sparrow's machine Disney's Treasure Planet Sony CEA 6098 64 Atlantis: Тһе Lost Empire SCEA DDE 48 Casper: Friends Around the World | Sound Source 98 а gun (hold R1) at Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers Ubi Sot 66% 39 АТУ: Quad Power Racing Acclaim @ 39 Castlevania Chronicles Konami &&$4 50 the vehicle. Downhill Mountain Bike Racing Activision 064 27 ‘Austin Powers Pinball Gotham Games 999) 64 7 п he Night || Konami %4 3 e Тһе vehicle will Dracula: The Last Sanctuary DreamCatcher 99998 56 Auto Destruct Electronic Arts BR® 6 Castrol Honda Superbike Electronic Arts 50%. 21 explode, but contin- Dracula: The Resurrection DreamCatcher 99998 48 Azure Dreams Konami ФФФ 10 Centipede Hasbro ® 2 ue shooting at the Dragon Ball GT Bandai 9%. 4 Backstreet Billiards Ascii 688 15 Championship Bass EA Sports ФФФФ 33 wreckage. Dragon Ball Z: Uhimate Battle 22. Infogrames ® e Ball Breakers. Таке 2 ®999 36 Championship Motocross 2001 Feat. Ricky Carmichael THQ 60906). a The Sea Sparrow UNLOCK BONUS CHARACTERS At the Title screen, press the follow- Ballistic Infogrames ӨӨӨ 27 Championship Motocross Feat. Ricky Carmichael THO 668 25 gun doesn't affect i 6, 5,9, e L1, ^, кі Baseball 2000 Interplay 80% 21 Championship Surfer Mattel $$$ 41 the Bullets Fired Dragon Tales: Dragon Seek NewkidCo 998 4% Bass Landing Agetec EI 26 Chessmaster ЇЇ Mindscape $44 23 stat but it does affect Dragon Valor Namco $$$ 38 Bass Rise Bandai 90909) 28 Chicken Run Eidos DAS 4 your Bullets That Hit Dragon Warrior VII Enix ФФФФЗ 51 Batman 8. Robin Acclaim & 13 (особо Racing Square EA ФФФ 23 stat, so your Drogonseeds laleco 5 Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Ubi Soft @ 39 Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Square EA 99999: 29 Accuracy rating will 5 Batman: Gotham City Racer Ubi Soft 68 46 Ki 55 i E RR 36 increase to more Infogrames RRES 40 Battle Hunter Agetec 98 48 Circuit Breakers Mindscape DES 12 than 100 percent! Acclaim 998: a Battletanx: Global Assault 300 98 E! Civilization It Activision 60600608 18 By the way, my Infogrames 99998 40 Beast Wars Hasbro &6. 5 Clock Tower Ascii BRR 2 record for the beach- ( 1 Beyblade Crave 908 66 Clock Tower Il: The Struggle Within Agetec BRE 28 ball stat is 53. What's GT Interactive poss Big Air Accolade 68 20 OPM's record? And п : Д 29 Big Bass Fishing Take 2 6 58 Colin McRae Rally Sony СЕА ФФФФ 30 no, | couldn't “keep it Dukes of Hazzard Il: Daisy Dukes it Out SouthPeak а Big ОГ Bass 2 Konami 99908 45 up” 53 times ina Dune 2000 Electronic Arts @@ т Big Strike Bowling Gotham Games PEI 68 Colony Wars: Red Sun Psygnosis 99900098 31 night! EA Sports Supercross EA Sports ФФФЯ 41 Billiards Agetec BRS 45 Colony Wars: Vengeance Psygnosis ФФФ9 14 Kevin Korrupt Eagle One: Натег Attack Infogrames PES 2 Bio ЕК.ЕА.К.5. Midway 10 Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Virgin PEDI 4 kevinkorrupt(a Echo Night Agetec 09% 2 Black Bass with Blue Marlin. HotB 6% 29 Contender Sony CEA PADS 17 ШЕП) ЕС Anarchy Ruiz Acclaim ® 38 Blade Activision DRG 41 Contender 2 Bam 9 а ECW Hardcore Revolution Acclaim 98 30 Blast Lacrosse Acclaim $4 48 б We've "kept it up” Ehrgeiz Square ЕА & $$ 21 Blast Radius Psygnosis SASI 19 three times. That's it. Einhander Sony CEA @@@® 8 Blaster Master: Blasting Again Crave BRR 38 Elemental Gearbolt Working Designs ФФФФ 11 Blasto Sony CEA ФФФЯ Б Cool Boarders 2001 Sony CEA ® 39 MORTAL KOMBAT Eliminator Psygnosis @@ 20 Blockids Natsume 648 69 Countdown Vampires Bandai 68 32 DEADLY ALLIANCE: The Emperor's New Groove SEA DDSI 40 Bloody Roar Sony CEA 999909: 6 Covert Ops Nuclear Dawn Activision 99999 34 MY FATALITY ESPN MLS GameNight Konami PES 40 Bloody Roar 2 Sony СЕА PES 21 ў My fatality would be ЕЛ. the ExtraTerestial: Interplanetary Mission NewKidCo 6 54 Blues Big Musical THO BRB 46 "S 1 blowing my victim a Eternal Eyes Crave 98 38 Board Game: Top Shop Agetec REPS AS Crash Bash SCEA/Universal I 39 ТОШ Evil Dead: Hail to the King THO $$$ at Bomberman Fantasy Race Atlus REI 19 Crime Killer Interplay $$ 12 done many times, | Evil Zone Titus $$$ 25 Bomberman Party Edition Майса! $9994 38 Critical Depth GT Interactive 99999) 3 know. It's just such Expendable Infogrames 98 34 Bomberman World Alus $6 з (0777 "Fox Interactive $e 1 a nice mixture of F12000 EA Sports SRSA 33 The Bombing Islands Кето $4 47 Сюс2 Fox Interactive 998. 22 naughty and nice— F1 Championship Season EA Sports $$$ 40 Boombots SouthPeak 99898 27 Crossroad Crisis Agetec 08 50 and one that would F1 Racing Championship Ubi Soft BBE 39 Bottom of the 9th 97 Konami PERI 1 Crusaders of Might & Magic зро DES 30 result in their eyes. Family Feud. Hasbro 69% 39 Bowling Agetec BB аз (CRECShTeam Rang 222 ——— гі exploding and blood Family Game Pack зро $$$ 3 Boxing Agetec P 45 CyberTiger EA Sports PADD running from their Fantastic Four Acclaim 699) 3

Өнас Ubi Soft n/a та | Dance Dance Revolution Konami ФФФФ 42 nose, ears, and Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition SNK 64 30

You're kidding when you say уоите interested in Bratz codes, right? Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Mix Konami PADS 49 mouth. After a few Fear Effect Fidos ФФФФЯ 31 Brave Fencer Musashi Square ЕА SEEE 15 Оапсе Dance Revolution: Konamix Konami ФФФФ 57 seconds, their head Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix Eidos 9966 43 Bravo Air Race THO BRE 1 Danger Girl TH) 9998 39 would, well, explode. Felony 11-79 Ascii DED 1 Breakout Hasbro 39 Dark Omen Electronic Arts 9 Mistress Shakahnna FIFA 98 EA Sports @@@G 4 Breath of Fire Ш Capcom DEEI 9 DarkStalkers 3 Capcom $$$ 16 һакаһппа/(дуаһоо.сот НРА 99 ЕА Sports PRSI 17 Breath of Fire IV Capcom PEPI 40 Darkstone Таке 2 POSI 43 НҒА 2000 ЕА Sports PEDDI 27 Brigandine Atlus SG 15 Dave Mirra Freestyle ВМХ Acclaim $$ 38 КЕЛСАП FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer EA Sports PESSI 39 Broken Sword THO 999% 5 Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX: Maximum Remix Acclaim 6096 47 are, somehow, you FIFA Soccer 2003 EASports 698 63 Broken Sword Il Crave Gd 27 David Beckham Soccer Majesco ФФФ 61 had us at “naughty.” The Fifth Element Activision 8 5 Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling THO PESI 1 Dead in the Water ASC s 17 Fighter Maker Agetec POPI 21

Official 0.5. PlayStation Magazine (ш)

Roger that.

FROSTFIRE

@ FREE FALL This is the quickest way down from the catwalk: Leap over the railing and you'll land safely on the boxes below.

Ө CLOAKED IN MYSTERY This is an ideal spot for SEALs to attack from; the deep shad- ow combines with their dark wet suits to deadly effect.

Ө DANGER ZONE Consider this path the Alley of Death; there's no defense and no escape. You have extraordi- nary aim or you're dead.

Ө READY, STEADY, KILL Тһе Terrorist who sets up on the office floor and takes aim at this door will be virtually guaranteed at least one kill. Ө LOBOTOMY Believe it or not, a Terrorist can stand here and lob a grenade deep into the central alley. Since SEALs will occasionally rush the alley en masse, you stand a fair chance of taking some- one out of the game early.

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GET YOURSELF ONLINE ALREADY

More SOCOM mappage, plus cruisin' in Midnight Club II

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BLIZZARD

@ UNBREAKABLE SEALs, many of you will start at the top of this cliff. Go ahead and jump off; in the first 10 seconds of the match, you'll survive the fall.

Ө HIGH AND DRY Here's a nice snipe spot for Terrorists; you'll get a view of many key map locations.

Ө FACEOFF This narrow alley often becomes a killing field as both teams try to sneak around the plateau that houses the bomb. Better toss some grenades down the canyon before moving in.

@ BACK DOOR With the SEAL base on such high ground, it's hard for Terrorists to sneak in undetected. This

ledge is your best bet.

@ STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN The back stairway to the second floor is usually defended less diligently than the front. Just make sure you check inside the pipe.

Wm N EXE ч

(ш) Official US. PlayStation Magazine

You can do all the standard races online, but why subject yourself to such arbitrary rules? Why not set up a Cruise game and just have some good, clean freestyle fun? You can conduct free-form drag races, play Chicken, or have yourselves a citywide game of Tag or Hide 'n' Seek. Here are some other city-specific suggestions to keep you busy in Cruise mode.

@ L.A.: CRASH ЕЗ! This building in the center of the city is modeled after the L.A. Convention Center, which hosts E3 every year. It’s true that driving through it isn't the same as being there for real, but get yourself some eardrum-piercing techno, a couple strobe lights, and a hangover and you'll be halfway there.

Ө L.A.: A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT In the southeast corner of the map, you'll find a set of ramps that will allow you to jump clean over the Los Angeles "river." Set you and your friends up with motorcycles, head for these ramps from opposite direc- tions, and see if you can pull off a

Mission: Impossible-style midair

collision. Even better: Set up a bike behind a car, head toward the jump, and try to leapfrog the car in midair.

© PARIS: KING OF THE PYRAMID Everyone will need cars for this one (or everyone will need bikes—just don't mix the two or someone's gonna have a really hard time]. See how quickly you can get to the top of the pyramid outside the Louvre, and how long you can stay up there while your friends try to knock you off.

@ PARIS: LEAP THE LOUVRE Once you get tired of playing on the pyramid, use it to get on top of the Louvre. That shouldn't be hard for anyone, so here's something a bit tougher: Get up a full head of steam, hit your Nitro on the flat ground in front of the pyramid, and try to jump over the Louvre onto the roof of the building across the street. Depending on your angle, you can pick your destination roof. For an extra challenge, try to land on the highest roof of the build- ing on the right. Yeah, it’s narrow.

Eidos PES 3 Eidos 69 Square EA $$$ d Square EA PADS Square Enix PARI

‘Sony CEA 2299

Fighting Force.

Fighting Force 2

Final Fantasy Anthology Final Fantasy Chronicles Final Fantasy Origins Final Fantasy Tactics. Final Fantasy VI

Fisherman's Bait

Fisherman's Bait 2: Big Ol' Bass Flintstones Bedrock Bowling Ford Racing

Formula 4/98.

Formula 1 99

Forsaken

Fox Sports Golf 99.

Fox Sports Soccer ‘99 Freestyle Boardin’ 99

Freestyle Motocross: McGrath vs. Pastrana

Frogger

Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge Front Mission 3

Future Cop L.A.PD. G-Police

G-Police 2

G-Darius

Galaga: Destination Earth Galerians

Gallop Racer

Gauntlet Legends

Gekido

Gekioh: Shooting King

Reus seRy

Square EA

Konami 9998 18 Konami &&& 27 SouthPeak & 37 Empire DEI 44 Psygnosis $$$ 15 Psygnosis BASI 28 Acclaim PADS Fox Interactive 606) Fox Interactive 99999 Capcom 9999 Acclaim Ф98 Hasbro 99908) Hasbro ФФФ 38 Square ЕА $99 &4 31 Electronic Arts BRB B Psygnosis ФФФФЧ 3 Psygnosis ФФФФ 25

THO ФФФФ Б Hasbro 99998 39 Crave ФФФ 3

Tecmo 99999 28 Midway 68 32 Interplay 686) 34 Natsume PASI 67

бех: Deep Cover Gecko Eidos && $4 20 бех: Enter the Gecko Midway 60068 7 Ghost in the Shell THO 666% 4 Glover Hasbro 6% 28 Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado Sony CEA ФФ 42 GranTurismo ‘Sony CEA) Se 9 Gran Turismo 2 Sony CEA % 529 Grand Theft Auto Take ees 10 Grand Theft Auto 2 Rockstar &&& 27 Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 Rockstar ФФЯ 22 Grand Tour Racing '98 Activision 608% 1 Grandia Sony CEA BERRI 26 Granstream Saga THO $$$ 10 The Grinch Konami/Universal 998 3 Grind Session Sony СЕА ФФФФ 34 Grudge Warriors Take2 за Guardian's Crusade Activision PES

Gubble Mud Duck 8

Gundam Battle Assault 2 Bandai $$

Gunfighter: The Legend of Jesse James

HardBall 99

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone `

Ubi Soft BRE Accolade 998

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets EA Games PES

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature HBO Boing

Heart of Darkness.

Hello Kitty's Cube Frenzy Негс5 Adventures

High Heat Baseball 2000

High Heat Major League Baseball 2002

Hogs of War

Hooters Road Trip

Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth Hot Shots Golf

Hot Shots Golf 2

Hot Wheels Turbo Racing, Hydro Thunder

IHRA Drag Racing

In Cold Blood

Incredible Crisis

Inspector Gadget: Gadgets Crazy Maze

Natsume PARI

Acclaim 0%

Interplay 90909999) NewKidCo PRI 20 LucasArts 99999) 2

300 % 2

300 $&&$ 43 Infogrames PAPP 38 Ubi Soft 8 55 Atlus ERG 5

болу СЕА $$ $$ 7 Sony СЕА 9098 30

Electronic Arts. 4998. 25 31

19 68 62 5 15 EA Games 66% 53 64 40 a з

Midway 66 Bethesda 9 5 DreamCatcher DE 49 Titus $$$ 38

Ubi Soft $$$ 50

Intelligent Qube Sony CEA $9 Intellivision Classic Games Activision 998

Int'l. Superstar Soccer 98 Konami BESSI Int'l. Track & Field 2000 Konami $$$ InuYasha Bandai @@® Invasion From Beyond GT Interactive 6%)

Поп Soldier 3 Майса BADD Irritating Stick Jaleo BRR ISS Pro Evolution Konami PEDD Jackie Chan Stuntmaster Midway ФФФ Jade Cocoon Cave SODI Jarrett 8 LaBonte Stock Car Racing | Codemasters 060606) Jeopardy! Hasbro 6%%% Jeopardy! 2 Hasbro ФФФФ Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000. Adaim 98

Jersey Devil Sony CEA

Jet Moto 2. Sony CEA DEPI Jet Moto 3 989 Studios & 99d Jimmy Johnson VR Football Interplay 6% Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Capcom 999998 Juggernaut Jaleo

КА Grand Prix Jaleo SSSI K Revenge Jaleco 6684 Kagero: Deception Il Tecmo 99999998 Kartia Atlus ФФФФ Kensei Sacred Fist Konami 998 Kickboxing Agetec ®

Killer Loop Crave ФФФ King of Fighters 99 Agetec 606% KISS Pinball Таке2 64 Knockout Kings. EA Sports BEDI Knockout Kings 2000 EA Sports $4 Knockout Kings 2001 EA Sports PEDS Konami Arcade Classics Konami 99998 Koudelka Infogrames SAS Kurt Warner's Arena Football Unleashed Midway ®@® The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing ТОК Mediactive 606060 The Land Before Time: Return to Great Valley Sound Source 99998 Largo Winch .//Commando Sar Ubi Soft 6

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Eidos 0 The Legend of Dragoon Sony СЕА PEPPI Legend of Legaia Sony CEA ФФФФ: Legend of Mana Square EA BRA Lego Island 2: The Bricksters Revenge Lego Media &994 Lego Rock Raiders. Lego Media ®

Lilo & Stitch Sony CEA DEPI The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure Activision 998

The Little Mermaid Il TH) ФФФФ Lode Runner Natsume 60606 Looney Tunes Racing Infogrames 99998 Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider Infogrames 606 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Electronic Arts ®

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Working Designs PAPEI Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete Working Designs 500609) Madden NFL 98: EA Sports 66% | Madden NFL 99 EA Sports PASDE Madden NFL 2002 ЕА Sports PEESI Madden NFL 2003 EA Sports PRES Marble Master Conspiracy 99998 Martian Gothic: Unification Таке 2 POPI Marvel Super Heroes Capcom Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter | Capcom 9998 Marvel vs. Capcom EX Capcom 998

Mary-Kate and Ashley: Magical Mystery Mall Acclaim 80096

Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winner's Circle

Mass Destruction

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX Maximum Force

MDK

Medal Of Honor

Acclaim 698 ASC 998 Activision BROS Midway 696 Playmates 99998 Electronic Arts ФФ)

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Official US. PlayStation Magazine (8)

THE SIMS

How to succeed at all six Sims careers

LEVEL HOURS PAY ‘SKILLS FRIENDS LEVEL HOURS PAY SKILLS FRIENDS LEVEL HOURS PAY ‘SKILLS FRIENDS бат-12рт $250 попе none Sam-3pm | $175 попе none Зрт-9рт $90 none none Tam-ipm 9925 Воду: +2 none Sam-3pm $250 Body: 1 8ат-2рт $400 ^ Mechanical +1 попе 9am-3pm $325 Воду: +2 2 Зрт-8рт $120 Creativity: +2 none

Charisma:s2 | Mechanical: «1 9am-3pm 5190. Creativity: «3 2 9ат-3рт $450 Cooking: +1 none Sam-3pm $00 Cooking: +1 3 8рт-йат $250 Mechanical:+2 2 Body: +2 Mechanical: +1 Creativity: +1 9am-3pm $500 Mechanical: +1 1 Logic: +1 7ат-2рт $325 ^ Mechanical:+3 5 Charisma: «1 9am-3pm $475 ^ Mechanicabs2 4 Creativity: «1 Logic: «1 llam-8pm $400 Body: +4 8 9ат-3рт $550 Mechanical:+1 3 9ат-3рт | $550 5 12рт-9рт $550 Charisma: +2 Charisma: +1 Charisma: +2 Body: «1 Logic: «2 Creativity: +3 Creativity: +2 9ат-3рт $580 Mechanical:+3 5 Sam-3pm $650 Mechanical +1 7 11ат-ёрт $700 Charisma: +5 12 Charisma: «1 Charisma: «1 Body: +2 Logic: +2 Body: +1 5pm-2am $1,100 Charisma: +3 15 9am-3pm $00 Mechanical: +3 6 Logic: +2 Logic: +4 Body: +3 Creativity: +1 10am-3pm 51,400 Logic: +1 10am-5pm $725 Charisma: +2 9 9ат-3рт $625 Mechanical: +1 8 Logic: +2 Charisma: +2 Creativity: «3 Body: +2 10am-4pm $825 Cooking: +1 т Creativity: +3 Charisma: +3 HOURS. PAY ‘SKILLS 9am-3pm | %450 Body: «1 9ат-Зрт ^ $100 попе Logic: «1 9am-3pm | $150 Charisma: +2 none | Creativity: «2 Sam-3pm $200 Body: +2 2 11am-5pm $925 У 9ат-ёрт | $275 Charisma: +1 1 Body: «1 Creativity: +1 10ат-5рт $375 Mechanical: +1 6 Charisma: «1 Body: «1 You won't be able to unlock this unless you catch a criminal Creativity: «1 in Get a Life mode. Get an alarm system to help you out. 10am-6pm $500 ^ Charisma: +2 8 LEVEL HOURS PAY SKILLS FRIENDS. Body: +1 Sam-3pm $140 попе none Creativity: 41 Тірт-7ат $200 Воду: +2 2 10am-6pm $660 Mechanical +1 10 Н 12рт-7рт $275 Charisma: +1 2 Charisma: +2 H Creativity: «1 Body: «1 3 9am-3pm $350 Mechanical: +2 3 Creativity: «1 Creativity: «1 Spm-lam $900 Charisma: +1 12 Spm-lam $425 Mechanical: +1 4 Body: +1 Charisma: «1 Creativity: 43 Body: «1 10ат-5рт $1,100 Charisma: «1 14 Creativity: «1 Body: +1 Logic: +1 Creativity: +3 | Зрт-1їрт. $530 Воду: +2 6 10ат-Зрт 91,400 Logic: «1

Creativity: «1 9pm-3am $640 Mechanical: +2 8

boxers, and you thought you were really cool. Wait, what? You

Logic: +1 LEVEL HOURS PAY SKI FRIENDS Creativity: +2 5am-10am $90 none none Гәрт-Зат | $760 Charisma: +3 10 10am-3pm $110 Воду: +2 1 Body: «1 Creativity: «1 9am-3pm $150 Charisma: +2 2 9рт-Зат $900 Сһагіѕта: +2 12 l2pm-5pm $180 Charisma: +2 4 Logic: +1 Тірт-4ат $220 Месһапіса: +3 6 Creativity: «2 6pm-lam $280 Mechanical: +2 7 épm-i2am $1,100 12рт-брт $350 Charisma: +3 10 Body: +1 l2pm-5pm $400 Charisma: +1 12 Body: +3 2рт-7рт $450 Charisma: +2 15 Body: +3

10рт-2ат $600

BORED GAME Excited about the

continuing Pitfall! series? We're not either! But мете hyped about this old board game!

:

PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Medal Of Honor Underground Electronic Arts ФФФФ 39

MediEvil Sony СЕА ФФФФ 14 MediEvil I Sony СЕА ФФФЯ 32 Mega Man Legends Capom ФФФФ 12 Mega Man Legends 2 Capcom PADI 39 Mega Мап X4 Capcom $$$ 4 Mega Мап X5 Capcom QADI 41 Mega Man X6 Capcom $$$ 53

Men In Black-The Series: Crashdown | Infogrames @@® 54

Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions.

Metal Slug X Agetec ӨФӨФ 43 Micro Maniacs Codemasters ФФФФ 32 Mike Tyson Boxing Codemasters 6060 39 The Misadventures of Tron Bonne Capcom $$ $$ 31 Miss Spider's Tea Party Simon & Schuster &9 А Missile Command Hasbro ФФФ 28 Mission: Impossible Infogrames 60% 28 MK Mythologies Midway $4 3 MLB 98 Sony CEA $$$ 1 MLB 99 Sony CEA $$ $$ 9 MLB 2000 989 Studios AHP 21 MLB 2001 989 Studios 3 MLB 2002 Sony CEA 9 46 MLB 2003 Sony CEA PASS 60 MLBPA Bottom of the 9th 99 Konami @@@@ 12 Mobil 1: Rally Championship Electronic Arts @@@® 32 Mobile Light Force XS Games PADI 69 Monaco Grand Prix Ubi Soft 894 21 Monkey Hero Take 2 @@ 18 Monkey Magic Sunsoft & 29 Monster Rancher 2 Tecmo ФФФФ 26

Monster Rancher Battle Card: Episode Il

Tecmo $$$4 36 Monster Rancher Нор-А-Вош: а

Tecmo EDDI

Monster Seed Sunsoft 668 20 Monsters, Inc. Sony СЕА ФФФ8 51 Mort the Chicken Crave 68 а Mortal Kombat: Special Forces Midway 98 36

@ mortal Kombat Trilogy Midway ма | п/а OLD-SCHOOL CHARACTERS Highlight either Kano, Kung Lao, Jax, or Rayden and press Select. They should explode and turn into MK1 Kano, MK2 Kung Lao, МК1 Rayden, and MK2 Jax (without metal arms). They have the same moves and fatalities as those in the old

games. Moto Racer 2 Electronic Arts EODD 14 Moto Racer World Tour Infogrames @@@® 40 Motocross Mania Take 2 @ 48 Motorhead Fox Interactive 600806 14 Mr. Domino Acclaim $$$ 15 Mr. Driller Namco ФФФФ 33 Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness Namc ФФФФ 38 МТУ Music Generator Codemasters ФӨФФФ 28 MTV Sports: Pure Ride THO PEDI 39 MTV Sports: Skateboarding Feat. Andy MacDonald THO ® 39 MTV Sports: Snowboarding THO SESI 27 MTV Sports: TJ. Lavin's Ultimate BMX TH 69% 45 The Mummy Konami ФФФ 41 Muppet Monster Adventure. Midway DEED 39 Muppet Race Mania. Midway 600986 39 My Disney Kitchen Bam n/a n/a N.GEN Racing Infogrames 6094 35 N20 Fox Interactive 9% u Nagano Winter Olympics 98 Konami ФФ 6 Namco Museum Vol. 3

Namco n/a п/а

ЕА Sports ФФФФ 26

NASCAR 2000

NASCAR 2001 EA Sports 698 38 NASCAR Heat Hasbro PASI 40 NASCAR Rumble Electronic Arts Ф9ФФЯ 31

NASCAR Thunder 2002 EA Sports 09) 52 МВА Fastbreak 98 Midway 99909: 4

NBA Hoopz

NBA In the Zone 98 NBA In the Zone 99 NBA In the Zone 2000

Midway @@® 43 Konami 094 7 Konami 80006 19 Konami PRA 28

NBA Live 98 EA Sports $$ $e 3 NBA Live 99 EASports ФФФФ 16 NBA Live 2000 EA Sports PESSI 28 NBA Live 2001 EA Sports ФФФФ 39 NBA Live 2002 EA Sports ФФФЯ 53 NBA ShootOut 98 Sony CEA DDSI 8 NBA ShootOut 2000 989 Studios $$ 30 NBA ShootOut 2001 989 Studios $$$ 39 NBA ShootOut 2002 Sony СЕА ФФФЯ 50 NBA ShootOut 2003 Sony СЕА DEDI 63 МВА Showtime: МВА on NBC Midway &&$ 28 NBA Tonight ESPN Digital &&& 14 NCAA Final Four 99. 989 Studios & $4 18 NCAA Final Four 2000 989 Studios PASI 28 NCAA Final Four 2001 Sony CEA 80% 40 NCAA Football 98 EA Sports 80% 2 NCAA Football 99 EA Sports PASSI 12 NCAA Football 2000 EASports &&$$ 25 NCAA Football 2001. EA Sports 6086086 36 NCAA GameBreaker 98 Sony CEA 6086 4 NCAA GameBreaker 99 989 Studios ФФФФ 15 NCAA GameBreaker 2000 989 Studios 6860 25 NCAA GameBreaker 2001 Sony СЕА 686 37 NCAA March Madness 98 EA Sports ФФӨФ 7 NCAA March Madness 99 EA Sports @@@ 18 NCAA March Madness 2000 EA Sports ФФФФ 29 NCAA March Madness 2001

EA Sports && A Nectaris: Military Madness Jaleo ФФФФ 17 \Неейїог$регйЇ! = Electronic Arts 680% 8 Need for Speed: High Stakes Electronic Arts ФФФФ 20 Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed Electronic Arts @@@@ 33 Need for Speed: V-Rally Electronic Arts 99 3 Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 Electronic Arts Ф9Ф98 28 Newman/Haas Racing Psygnosis 0% 7 The Next Tetris Hasbro ФФФ 24

NFL Blitz 2001 Midway DERG 38 NFL GameDay 99 989 Studios ФФФФ 13 NFL GameDay 2000 989 Studios 800% 25 NFL GameDay 2001 989 Studios 886 37 NFL GameDay 2002 Sony СЕА 60%) 49 NFL GameDay 2003 Sony CEA $$ $$ 62 NFL Xtreme 989 Studios nu NFL Xtreme 2 989 Studios 998 24 NHL 98 EASports ФФФФ 2 NHL 99 EA Sports &&&&d 15 NHL 2000 EA Sports 99$ 26 NHL 2001 EA Sports $$$ 38 NHL Blades of Steel 2000 Konami 60% 28 NHL Breakaway 98 Acclaim ФФФ 2 NHL Championship 2000 Fox Interactive $$ 27

NHL FaceOff 98 Sony СЕА ERER 2

NHL FaceOff 99 989 Studios 60960 14 NHL FaceOff 2000 989 Studios ФФФФ 26 NHL FaceOff 2001 Sony CEA 99999998 38 NHL Rock the Rink Electronic Arts DSS 32 Nick Toons Racing Infogrames $$ 48 Nightmare Creatures Activision DEDA 3 Nightmare Creatures It Konami $$ B Ninja: Shadow of Darkness Eidos 64 15 Nudear Strike Electronic Arts ФФФФЯ 3 орт. Psygnosis 694 5

Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus GT Interactive BADDI 15

Omega Boost One

Sony CEA ФФФФ 25 ASC ФФФФ 4

9p, D, Ф Not three stars

consecutively, but the three scores total for the three games in the Spec Ops trifecta.

REPL AY GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE FORUM Pandemonium! 2 Midway 60994 3 Panzer Front. Agetc ФФФ8 51

SPLINTER CELL: DEMO-NSTRATING ParasheEve 8 5] Square EA $99 12 | was playing the Parasite Eve II Square EA ФФФФ 37 Splinter Cell demo Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Atlus ФФФФ 41 and | found a really Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf Infogrames ФФФЯ 41 crazy thing. | doubt PGA Tour 98 EA Sports ФФФ 3 you can pull this one Pinobee Konami ФФ 68 off! In the kitchen, Pipe Dreams 3D Empire Int. ®® 5 after wasting the Pitfall 3D Activision 50% 9 cook, | opened the Planet of the Apes Ubi Soft SDS 6 door to call the Play With The Teletubbies Knowledge Adv. 80%. 36 attention of the Pocket Fighter Capom ФФФФ 11 guard. Then І backed Point Blank Мато SSSI 6 off, let the door Point Blank 2 Namco Ф9ФФЯ 20 close, and walked Point Blank 3 Namco @@@@ 44 near it. When the Polaris SnoCross Vatical OBE 38 angry guard tried to Pong Hasbro ФФФЯ 27 enter and beat me Pool Hustler Activision $$$ 15 down, the door only Populous: The Beginning Electronic Arts @@ 21 opened halfway and Porsche Challenge Sony CEA 96094 k he couldn't pass. | Power Play Sports Trivia Ubi Soft 58 fired away and killed Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue THO $4 40 him. It was then that Power Shovel Acclaim ФФФ 49 it happened: Since Power Soccer 2 Psygnosis @@® 5 the guy didn't have Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball Infogrames PDG au space to fall оп the The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction Bam 99 51 floor, he started Poy Poy Konami DES 3 floating through the Pro 18 World Tour Golf Psygnosis 0% 9 door and got stuck іп Pro Pinball: Big Race USA Empire ФФФЯ 37 the wall next to the Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey Empire $$$ 37 door! The body Pro Pinball: Timeshock! Таке2 @ 10 stayed there but it Psybadek Psygnosis 0% 5 was like а ghost— Punky Skunk аео @@® 6 | could walk right Putter Golf Agetec 8 5 through it. Really Puzzle Star Sweep Agetec DDI 43 funny stuff! People Qbert Hasbro 6098 28 should try to pull off Quake II Activision ФФФФ 27 this crazy stunt, too! ЕЛуре Delta. Agetec PPDP 23 Pedro Palacio R-lypes Аз! 090684 17 zazam740laterra.com.br R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 Namco ФФФФ 20 Racing Agetec d з

Rage Ball Agetec 68 68

Railroad Tycoon 1 Таке 2 ФФФ 30

Rainbow Six Red Storm @ 27

Rally Cross 2 989 Studios 606 15

Rampage Midway 094 4

Rampage 2: Universal Tour Midway @ 21

Rampage Through Time Midway 98 36

Ray Tracers тно ФФФ 5

EASY ALL-STAR RayCrisis Working Designs 90999) 38 | love NHL 2K3 and Rayman 2: The Great Escape Ubi Soft ФФФФ 35 thought your slider Rayman Brain Games Ubi Soft DES 50 hints in the May issue Rayman Rush Ubi Sot ФФФ 57 made the game more Razor Freestyle Scooter Crave DAS au exciting and fun. RC de GO! Acclaim ФФФФ 40 However, why the Alt RC Helicopter Agetec 08 68 Star difficulty? Does RC Revenge Acclaim ФФФ8 37 it make it more real- RC Stunt Copter Tius $$$ 25 istic by being easier? елок Acclaim 6% 26 ШОЕ Ready2Rumble Midway 6006 27 РагаТауад(0 Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2 Midway @@@ 40 rogers.com Red Asphalt Interplay Ф9: 3

“Reel Fishing Natsume 99$ (3

Nope. Play the hard- Reel Fishing Il Natsume @@ 34 est level if you can Resident Evil: Director's Cut || Capcom @@@ 2 hack it. ResidentEvil2 = Capcom а 6 ‘Resident Evil2: Dual Shock 777777 Сарот SEEGA

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Capcom ФФФФЯ 27

Resident Evil: Survivor Capcom 98 38

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure Atlus 060% %

Official US. PlayStation Magazine (8)

MVP BASEBALL 2003

Pitch a perfecto, and OPM's fantasy team

CHEAT YOUR WAY TO MVP STATUS Pitching a perfect game isn't impossible. You can even до it with Ав hurler Barry Zito. Use Zito or a created player with a killer slider and curveball, Then...

» Throw two sliders to the side opposite the one the pitcher throws. [For the left-handed Zito, throw to what would be inside for a left-handed batter.) The pitch must be at the edge of the strike zone.

* Throw a curveball in the upper inside or outside corner. The bat- ter should strike out, pop out, or ground out.

If you want to hit a home run every time, go to Rosters, then Create-A- Player. Enter the player’s name as Erik Kiss. He'll knock the ball out of the park every time he lays wood on it.

If you want to knock the ball over the Green Monster, get a big right-hand-

MLBPA INVITATIONAL

A funny and surprising thing happened during spring trainin:

ed bat like Manny Ramirez or Sammy Sosa. Hold the left analog stick diagonally toward the Green Monster. Almost every inside pitch will soar over the wall for a homer.

If you want a broken bat every time you make contact (weirdo), create a play- er with one of the following names: Keegn Patersn, Jacob Patersn, Ziggy Patersn.

Feel like widening your field of view оп all cameras? Who wouldn't? We dug up this peculiar little cheat that'll change your field view by dis- playing the game's world as slightly squished horizontally on a 4:3 aspect ratio television. Very strange, indeed. (No worries, though—it doesn't change resolution or display modes in any way). * Press and hold both L2 + R2 for more than three seconds. * While holding L2 + R2, press 4 on the D-pad to enable the cheat. Push = on the D-pad to disable it.

Major

League Baseball gave OPM а call and asked if we'd like to join a fantasy baseball league alongside companies that make baseball games and

other outlets that write about them. We humbly accepted.

If you'd like to follow the race and cheer on OPM— wouldn't it be great if we beat 300, EA Sports, Sega, and Sony at their !

own games?—go to: baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com,

b2?page=leaquehome&lid=697

To get you ready, here’s our mighty lineup

and star-studded pitching staff.

Batters Catcher First Base

Second Base Todd Walker, Boston Third Base Shortstop Alex Gonzalez, Chicago Cubs

Outfield Hideki

David Bell, Philadelphia Tony Batista, Baltimore

Damian Miller, Chicago Cubs Hee Sop Choi, Chicago Cubs Adam Dunn, Cincinnati

Matsui, New York Yankees Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs Corey Patterson, Chicago Cubs Brian Jordan, Los Angeles

Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle

Lance Berkman, Houston

Pitchers Starters

Mark Prior, Chicago Cubs; Bartolo Colon, Chicago

White Sox; Freddy Garcia, Seattle; Roger Clemens, New York Yankees; Brad Radke, Minnesota

Relievers

Kazuhiro Sasaki, Seattle; Octavio Dotel, Houston;

Felix Rodriguez, San Francisco

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

Oshrek: Treasure Hunt

‘GAME, PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Rising Zan Agetec PEDS 24 Risk Hasbro ФФФФ 11

Rival Schools Capcom $& &$ 14 Road Rash: Jail Break Electronic Arts 60% 30 Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots Mattel $$$ 4 Rocket Power: Team Rocket Rescue THQ 98 5

Rogue Тір GT Interactive & d 14 Roll Away Psygnosis PORDI 13 Rollcage Psygnosis PAPI 19 Rollcage Stage II Psygnosis 9998 31 Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI Koei 6%. 30 Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths, & Legends Вей Storm 99 48 RPG Maker Agetec PAPPI 35 Rugrats: Totally Angelica THO PEDI 48 Rugrats in Paris: The Movie THO ФФФ Runabout 2 HotB @ 36 Running Wild 989 Studios B®. м Rushdown Electronic Arts $9 9 Sabrina, Teenage Witch: A Twitch іп Time! Knowledge Adv. 8 45

Sony CEA PARI 8 Square ҒА PEPI 29

SaGa Frontier SaGa Frontier 2

Saiyuki: Journey West Koei PEPA 47 Saltwater Sportfishing Agetec DPA 52 Sammy Sosa High Heat Baseball 2001 300 9% 32 Sammy Sosa Softball Slam зро 6% 33 Samurai Shodown: Warrior's Rage SNK 999 36 Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase THO 6% 52 Scrabble Hasbro &&$ 28 Sentinel Returns Psygnosis 9 п

Sesame Street Sports NewKidCo PAI 54

Shadow Madness Gave $$ 19 Shadow Man Acclaim 08 2 Shadow Master Psygnosis ФФФФ 5 Shadow Tower Agetec 9 28

Sunsot &&& 20 Empire &&& 41 TDK Mediactive n/a n/a There are no codes. It's not like you're dying for them, are you? Psygnosis DES 3 Agetec 999088 48 Agetec з Bandai && $$ 30 Working Designs PAPI 29 Electronic Arts 6/98 3 Taito 45

Shanghai: True Valor Sheep

Shipwreckers

Shooter: Space Shot Shooter: Starfighter Sanvein Silent Bomber 5 ІН es Silhouette Mirage Sim Theme Park

The Simpsons Wrestling

Electronic Arts 999 5

Small Soldiers

Smurfs Infogrames RES 29 Smurf Racer Infogrames $9. 45 Sno-Cross Championship Racing Crave 68 37 Snowboarding Agetec BB 8 Sol Divide XS Games &&& 68 Sorcerer's Maze. XS Games PADI 68 Soul of the Samurai Konami $4 24 South Park Acclaim @4 т South Park: Chef's Luv Shack Acclaim ® 28 South Park Rally Acclaim 64 29 Space Invaders Activision PAS 27 Spawn: The Eternal Sony CEA 4 Spec Ops: Covert Assault Take 2 ® 52 Spec Ops: Ranger Elite Take 2 ® 46 Spec Ops: Stealth Patrol Take 2 ® 34 Speed Punks Sony CEA 90908988 32 Speed Racer Jaleco 0%. 8 Speedball 2100 Empire ФФЯ 40 Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro Activision 60098

Spin Jam Take 2 64 38 SpongeBob SquarePants THO 5

САМЕ PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Electronic Arts 99998

Sports Car GT

Star Ocean: The 2nd Story Star Trek: Invasion

болу СЕА $ $$$ - олу CEA $$. 27;

21 13

Sony СЕА 92999908 22 Activision PESI 37

Star Wars Episode |: Jedi Power Battles LucasArts @@®@ 33 Star Wars Episode The Phantom Menace LucasArts 099989” 25 Star Wars Masters of Terás Kasi LucasArts @@® 4 Star Wars Demolition LucasArts PAPI 41 Steel Reign болу СЕА $$$ 2 Streak GT Interactive & 15 Street Fighter Collection Capcom $$$ 4 Street Fighter Collection 2 Capcom DED 16 Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha Capcom ФФФФ 2 Street Fighter EX2 Plus Capcom $$$ 33 Street Racquetball Agetec 8 68 Street SkBer Electronic Arts 666 19 Street SkBer 2 Electronic Arts ӨРӨӨ 32 Strider 2 Capcom SESI 34 Striker Pro 2000 Infogrames $$ 33 Strikers 1945 Agetec BOI 44 Stuart Little 2 Sony CEA 99998 60 Suikoden It Konami ФФФФ 26 Super Bubble Pop Jaleco ® 68 Super Shot Soccer Тесто $$$ 61 Superbike 2000 EA Sports 998 2 SuperCross 2000 EA Sports 66 29 SuperCross Circuit 989 Studios && $$ 28 Superstar Dance Club #1 Hits!!! XS Games PI 67 Surf Riders Ubi Soft 998 35 Sydney 2000 Eidos & 38 Бурнол Filters 989 Stüdios BOOS) 16 Syphon Filter 2 989 Studios PE 31 Syphon Filter 3 Sony СЕА DESI 52 Tai Fu Activision 608 19 TRAG. Sunsot 686) 20 Tactics Ogre Atlus ФФФЯ 12 Tail Concerto Atlus $$ 26 Tales of Destiny Namco ФФФФ 15 Tales of Destiny I Namco ФФФЯ 49 тапап 77777” "Sony CEA 6:994. 24; Team Buddies Midway POPI 38 Team 1051 RC Racing Fox Interactive 99998 B Tekken) 7 Namco о 9 Ге 5 Activision 99999999: 14 Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins Activision DES 37 Tennis Agetec 5 Tennis Arena Ubi Soft $94 4 (ссо1айг/ФФФЯ 3

Accolade 99099898 15

Test Drive 6 Infogrames REHA 27 Test Drive: Le Mans Infogrames & 4 34 Test Drive: Off-Road 3 Infogrames ®® 26 Thousand Arms Atlus $$$ 26 Thrasher: Skate & Destroy Rockstar @BRI 29 Threads of Fate Square ЕА PPPI 35 Thunder Force V Working Designs PED B Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf EASports ФФФФ 16 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 EA Sports PODI 41 Tigger's Honey Hunt NewKidCo $$$ 41 Time Crisis: Project Titan Namco ФФФ 45 Tiny Tank Sony CEA 69 25 Tiny Toon Adventures: Рішску Big Adventure Conspiracy 999 50 Tiny Toons: The Great Beanstalk NewKidCo $9 18

TOCA 2 Tom & Jerry in House Trap

Eidos 69%

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Red Storm 998

TombRaider m ME 6664 Tomb Raider: Chronicles Eidos 99998 Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation Eidos 609%

Sony CEA $$.

Tombal

Activision 600084 27

4 45

Es $9 4. 781

16 а 29 п

САМЕ PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE

Tembal 2: The Evil Swine Return Sony CEA SEES 29 Worms World Party Ubison BESS 55 READER REVIEWS

Tomorrow Never Dies | Electronic Ans aaa 28 . Wu-Tang Shaolin Style Activision $$ 28

Tonka Space Station Hasbro 898 41 WWF Attitude Acclaim ФФФФ 24 From rappin’ rasslers to Sam Fisher Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Activision 89998088 26 WWF SmackDown! THO 68664 31 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Activision BADDI 51 WWF War Zone Acclaim ФФФФ 12 We want your reviews of the best and worst games, so write a review and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Activision 606000 64 X-Bladez: Inline Skater Crave 8 55 send it to opmíiaziffdavis.com. We can't publish them all, so keep it short, Toonenstein: Dare to Scare Vatical DDI 29 X-Files Fox Interactive 00) 28 be witty, and remember that not every game deserves a five-star Torneko: The Last Hope Enix 6% 40 X Games Pro Boarder. ESPN Digital PASS 14 rating just because you like it! Toy Story 2 Activision ФФФ 28 Х-Меп: Children of the Atom Acclaim 6% 6 2 Toy Story Racer Activision PEÐ 44 X-Men: Mutant Academy Activision DAD 36 DEF JAM: VENDETTA Gear Solid 2 was not a great game, Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals Bam & 36 X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 Activision DES 50 What you said: “This game is just definitely not worthy of five stars— ‘Trap Gunner Atlus 90998 B Xena: Warrior Princess Electronic Arts 0606 26 plain beat-down-the-other-guy fun. 1 was disappointed. But anyway, Treasures of the Deep. Namco 6060060 1 Xenogears Square EA 609% 14 There is a well balanced set of back to my praise of Splinter Cell. Trickin’ Snowboarder Capcom 4 25 You Don't Know Jack! Berkeley Systems PASSE 25 moves for each character, and even Did | mention the graphics? Great Triple Play 99 EA Sports 99999 9 You Don't Know Jack! Mock 2 Siera $$ 40 the non-Def Jam fighters have a level design? Action? Stealth? Triple Play 2000 EA Sports 99999908 20 @vu-Gi-on!: Forbidden Memories Konami $4 5 well-defined flavor. But for a game Lighting effects? Tell me when to Hamburger Recipe 80811661 that prides itself on its musicalele- stop, because | could keep going.” Triple Play Baseball. EA Sports 99998 4h Hane-Hane 07089711 ments, it has fewer than 20 Your Score ЖЖ * ЖЖ Turbo Prop Racing Sony CEA PAD u Haniwa 84285623 songs...and you can't even get lyri- Ben Bouchie Turnabout Hannibal Necromancer 05640330 cal versions while you're in a brawl! skunkmané7(dyahoo.com i Happy Lover 99030164 Since the game's best feature is

747 Hard Armor 20060230 multiplayer, | wish | could see the What we said: “None of the bad guys Twisted Metal: Small Brawl Sony CEA PRI 52 Harpie Lady 76812113 attributes of the fighters at the in Splinter Cell have the charisma Tyco RC: Assault With a Battery Mattel 0%. 38 Harpie Lady Sister. 12206212 2) а Ж М Ultimate 8-Ball THO BEES 22 Harpie's Brother 30532390 If you're sick of wrestling games Ultimate Fighting Championship Crave & 4 40 Harpie's Feather Duster 18144506 5 5 8 Um Jammer Lammy Sony СЕА DAMA 24 Harpie's Pet Dragon 52040216 with sweaty men in tights, try the The Unholy War Eidos 66% 14 Hercules Beetle 52584282 А " 2 Uprising x 300 $$$ П Hero ofthe East 39987208 one with guys in Phat Farm clothing.” Urban Chaos Eidos ФФ 3 Hibikime 64501875 Vagrant Story Square EA ФФФЯ 33 High Tide Gyojin 54579801 Character Selection screen, so 1 of any Metal Gear characters. Valkyrie Profile Enix BEES 36 Hinotama 46130346 could play against my little sister Our Score PAPPI Vampire Hunter D Jaleco 0%. 37 Hinotama Soul 96851799 and not lose so badly. Vanark Jaleco 00% 2 Hinotama Soul 96851799 If you're sick of wrestling games DARK CLOUD 2 Vandal Hearts II Konami PASI 27 Hiro's Shadow Scout 81863068 with sweaty men in tights (WWE), What you said: “I can’t help but Vanguard Bandits Working Designs 5008 3 Hitodenchak 46718686 try the one with the guys in the notice several obnoxious flaws. Vanishing Point Acclaim 8098 44 Hitotsu-me Giant 76184692 jerseys and Phat Farm clothing." First, the game is full of cheap Vegas Games 2000 300 PESI 7 Holograh 10859908 Scott Sullivan deaths. And at times, the camera ун Ubi Soft 51 Horn Imp 69669405 summoner907(@hotmail.com acts as if it's being controlled by a [Vigilantes 2 Activision SESS 10 Нот of Light 38552107 man whose face is slowly being Vigilante 8: Second Offense Activision BRR 29 Horn of the Unicorn 64047146 What we si hree parts brawler, еаќеп by yellow-jackets. The geora- Virtual Kasparov Titus 60% 49 Hoshiningen 67629977 one part hip-hop video, Vendetta is ma system here is worse than in VR Baseball 99 Interplay PAPI 11 Hourglass of Courage 43530283 clearly PS2's best wrestler.” the first game, with a clumsier VR Sports Powerboat Racing Interplay ® 10 Hourglass of Life 08783685 Our Score 9090929 menu setup. Despite this, it's as Vs. THO ® 3 House of Adhesive 15083728 enjoyable as the original. With 100 Walt Disney World Quest Magical Racing Tour Eidos 99999: 3 Hungry Burger 30243636 SPLINTER CELL hours of gameplay time, it’s a Walt Disney's Jungle Book Rhythm n' Groove Ubi Soft BRB au Hungry Ghoul 95265975 What you said: “Finally, a stealth- must-own—but it’s not as good War Jetz зро & 48 Hunter Spider 80141480 action game to give Metal Gear as Xenosaga. WarGames: DefCon 1 MGM Interactive BRB® 12 Hurricait 15042735 Solid 2 a run for its money. Many Your Score 9e de dede Warpath: Jurassic Park Electronic Arts 909) 27 Hyo 38982356 Xbox owners said по way your Brandon Hopkins Warriors of Might and Magic зро 9909) я Hyosube 02118022 puny PS2 can pump out these visu- brhopkin(@brownell.edu Warzone 2100 Eidos & $$$ 22 Hyozanryu 62397231 als!’ They were wrong! The level of WCW Backstage Assault EA Games 40 ке Water 20848593 detail is incredible. There аге so What we sai Dark Cloud 2 has WCW Mayhem Electronic Arts PAPI 26 MM Witch 81686058 many different ways to tackle mis- тоге than enough absurdly addic-

WCW Nitro icr tHe 886 5 Inhaler 08353769. sions and tons of gadgets to com- tive elements to keep you busy. WCW/nWo Thunder THO Ф y Insect Armor with Fire. 03492538 plete them with. This дате is a Our Score ж ЖЖ Ж

The Weakest Link Activision PAPI 51 Insect Barrier 23615409 must-have. Buy this!"

Wheel af Fortune: 88810 ERS 747 © Insect Immation 96965364 Your Score ЖЖ ЖЖ SHOX

Wheel of Fortune 2 Hasbro PADS 39 Insect Queen 91512835 Jaxijin What you said: “The $100 Logitech Winnie the Pooh: Kindergarten. Bam n/a n/a Insect Soldiers of Swarm 07019529 maxymon@hotmail.com wheel is a great accessory, and no Winnie the Pooh: Preschool Bam n/a n/a Invader from Another Galaxy 28450915 other game uses it better {һап Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 2nd Edition Sony CEA 99998 35 Invader of the Throne 03056267 What else you said: "First of all, Shox. It looks great, and with the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 3rd Edition Sony CEA 999 Invigoration 98374133 when you've got a дате (һа! іѕ Һе wheel it plays better than it looks. Wild 9 Interplay 0008 15 Invisible Үйге 15361130 most advanced, with the best І don't care about Colin McRae ог Wild Arms 2 Sony CEA PASI 33 Invitation To A Dark Sleep 52675689 graphics, coolest effects, and best Paris-Dakar Rally, but this game is The Wild Thornberrys: Animal Adventure Мапе! &4 а Island Turtle 04042268 stealth, it's pretty much а given carrying me into rally bliss.” WipeOut 3 Psygnosis ФФФФ 26 Javelin Beetle 26932788 that the game will get a five-star Your Score Sede deg

Woody Woodpecker Racing Konami 0%. 40 Javelin Beetle Pact 41182875 rating. But nooo, Mr. Davison had to 2006194(agaggle.net World Cup 98 EA Sports PAS 10 Jellyfish 14851496 give it a 41/2 because he thought

World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks 300 8 39 Jigen Bakudan 90020065 the story was too real! Too real? What we said: “If you're expecting a World Is Not Enough Electronic Arts && 40 Jinzo 77585513 What?! You want games that аге racing game with the full-on Big World's Scariest Police Chases Activision ФФ 47 Jirai Gumo 94773007 simply fantasy? Can't we mature treatment, you'll be disappointed.” Worms Armageddon Hasbro PESI 27 Job-change Mirror 55337339 just a bit? And personally, Metal Our Score PAPI

Official US. PlayStation Magazine 109)

Those were some FINGER WEIGHTS! whack licenses ё : Dont stop the workout just because ж @ back in the day. you're gaming! Boy, is this a dumb idea.

MIX & MATCH

Licensed games based on monster franchises aren't a new thing

o you think videogame licenses are a new thing? Not a chance. Since the early days of console

gaming, publishers have believed recog- nizable names were connected to dollar signs. These games usually sucked. Here are screens from and titles of 15 licensed Atari 2600 games [some of which, like The

Incredible Hulk, were never р 8 А 1 even released!). Can a a иши you pair them ир (PlayStation Aptitude Test) properly? 1. Which game in this month's Reviews 1 Alien section features a “Smash Count"? m a. Chaos Legion 2 Meam b. The Hulk 3 Dumbo c. Mobile Armor Flving Ci d. Chessmaster lying Circus 4 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 2. Which of these names is not associated with Wakeboarding Unleashed? 5 ___ Ghostbusters a. Cobe Mikacich 6 Halloween b. Dallas Friday " c. Parks Bonifay 7 The Incredible Hulk d. Edgar Humpley 8 James Bond 007 3. What was the original name for ж Дж 9 --МК S'H Drakengard? 10 Planet of the Apes a. Panzer Dragoon қ b. Drag-on Dragoon us Porky's c. Dragon Drag-oon

d. Jade Cocoon

12 Raiders of the Lost Ark

1 Snow White

14 “аг Wars: The Ewok Adventure

15 Техав Chainsaw Massacre

4. Which of the following is not an actual weapon seen in this month's Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain video?

a. Calico 960

b. China 56

c. Omega 3

d. SOCOM Pistol

АЛУ 3 (SL 'O (71 "0 (EL 3 (ZL "I (LL 1 (0L 'O [6 у (8 A (4 '0 (9 '8 (S "N (7 'W (E 'H (2 1 (L:S49 suy РЕ Е. 5. Which of these is an actual PS1 game

and has nothing to do with Bruce Banner's alter ego? a. WWF Hulkamania І always bring 50 last time I b. Space Hulk games when I visit went down, I break out Damn. Hey, let's go c. Green and Gray му пеїсев. You're the “ҮД the Activision Anthology. watch that new Jet Li movie. d. Hulka Hulka Burnin’ Love "Pon" oncle. Forty-Pive rad Atari I hear һе kicks а guy. games! е Exactly. My niece says No, no... I think I'll to ме, "What's Atari?" |066 ride ми Rascal down to She actually said that. the park and yell аб

“What is Atari?" the kids

www.penny-arcade.com

HULKSTER

Real American Hero Did this steroid-mon-

photo from Retna

have a PSI game based on him?

Official 0.5. PlayStation Magazine

COLLECT THEM ALL

Order OPM Back Issues or Demo Discs Today!

To order, simply send your order form indicating which issues you would like to: Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Back Issues, 1411 Opus Place, Suite 340, Downers Grove, IL 60515. All requests must be paid for by check or 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 Canada, and $5 foreign. All payments MUST be in U.S. funds. Prices and avail- ability subject to change without notice. (Note: Issue 17/February 1999 is completely SOLD OUT.)

WAR огт MONSTERY

%

Issue 64 January 2003 - $10

WAR OF THE MONSTERS PS2 Deno Disc Paus: SOCOM, War of the Monsters, Rygar:

Point of Impact, Shinobi, Legala 2, Minority Report, Haven, Relgn of Fire, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 Vico Previews: The Getaway

Issue 69 June 2003 - $10

Issue 68 May 2003 - $10

SOCOM 2: U.S. NAVY SEALS PS2 Deno Disc Pravasu

World Tour Soccer 2003, High Heat MLB 2004, Smash Car:

Monsters, Rocky, Pri

Next Dimension, Black & Bruised, Space Fisherman

Vioeo Previews: MLB Slugfest, Wakeboarding Unleashed, Enter the

igh Heat MLB 2004, My Street, NBA Live 2003, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Winning Eleven 6

Урко Previews: After Echo, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

Issue 63 December 2002 - $10

SHINOBI

PS2 Deno Disc Риви NCAA Football 2003, Rally Fusion Race of Champions, Contra Shattered

uikoden IIl,

Soldier, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, Disney's Treasure Planet, Primal

Ў

Issue 62 November 2002 - $10

PS2 Deno Disc Puvaus: Wild Arms 3, Sly Cooper, Silent Scope 3, Dance Dance Revolution, Dual Hearts, NX Superfly, Red Faction 2, Hitman 2 Vico Previews: Ratchet & Clank, Contra: Shattered Soldier, һасК// INFECTION, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

Issue 67 April 2003 - $10

Issue 66 March 2003 - $10

Issue 65 February 2003 - $10

MIDNIGHT CLUB П

PS2 Demo Disc PLavaptes:

Amplitude, ATV Offroad Fury 2, NCAA Final Four 2003, Rayman3: Hoodlum Havoc, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, Zapper

Урко Previews: „ћаск//ІМРЕСТІОН, Silent Hilt 3, Мехх

ТТІ

Issue 61 October 2002 - $10

Dragonfly, Downforce, Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates, The Mark of Kri Моко Previews: Treasure Planet, Kelly Slater, Superman, Kingdom Hearts

DEF JAM: VENDETTA PS2 Deno Disc PLavaBtes: Jet X20, NHL FaceOff 2003, Zone of

Fighting Championship, All-Star Baseball 2004, NASCAR Thunder 2003, The King of Route 66, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, Rocky

Vioto Previe (enosaga, EverQuest Online Adventures

SOCOM .. a Pto siot fre Ч, 4 «урам,

Өр i

Issue 60 September 2002 - $10

SOCOM: U.S. NAVY SEALS PS2 Deno Disc Pavastes: TimeSplitters 2, X-Men: Next Dimension, Hot Shots Golf 3, The Mark of Kri, Frequency, Medal of Honor: Frontline

Viven Previews: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, and more

THE GETAWAY

PS2 Demo Disc Pravastes:

The Getaway, Dark Cloud 2, NBA ShootOut 2003, Ratchet & Clank, ATV: Quad Power Racing 2, Black & Bruised, Run Like Hell: Hunt or be Hunted, Shaun Murray's Pro Wakeboarder, Def Jam Vendetta ightFire, GTA:

Issue 59 August 2002 - $10

SLY COOPER

PS2 Deno Disc PLavastes:

Street Hoops, UFC: Throwdown, Taz: We

‘Stuntman, Britn Vioto Previews: Mat Hoffman 2, Dragon's Lair 30, Kingdom Hearts, Test Drive

Issue 1- October 1997 $18 |_| FINAL FANTASY VII STRATEGY

DEMOS: Intelligent Qube, PaRappa the Rapper, Ace Combat 2, Fighting Force

Issue 2 - November 1997 $10 BUSHIDO BLADE STRATEGY DEMOS: Crash Bandicoot 2, Croc, Armored Core, Madden NFL 98, Cool Boarders 2, Colony Wars

Issue 3 - December 1997 $10 COOL BOARDERS STRATEGY

DEMOS: Bushido Blade, Vs, Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Kasi, Jet Moto 2, Cardinal SYN, Ghost in the Shell, Moto Racer, Test Drive 4

Issue 4 - January 1998 $10 TOMB RAIDER II STRATEGY DEMOS: NFL GameDay 98, CART World Series, Frogger

Issue 5 - Fobruary 1998 $10 АШИМОВА STRATEGY DEMOS: NCAA GameBreaker 98, Tomb

Raider Il, Command 8. Conquer: Red Alert, біте Killer

DEMOS: Bloody Roar, Monster ipwrecker

$10 2 STRATEGY DEMOS: Hot puc Golf; Pitfall 30, WCW Nitro,

[] Issue 8 - May 1998 $10 TEKKEN 3 STRATEGY

DEMOS: Einhánder, бех: Enter the Gecko, Klonoa

98

EW DEMOS: Cardinal SYN, Vigilante 8, Forsaken, N20, TOCA, Dead or Alive

DEMOS: Gran Turismo, Tombal, Тһе Granstream Saga, Jersey Devil, NBA ShootOut, Blasto, Speed Racer

Issue 11 - August 1998 | $15 VIGILANTE 8 STRATEGY DEMOS: Tekken 3, Turbo Prop Racing

Issue 12- Soptember 1998 $10

ELEMENTAL GEARBOI DEMOS: Spyra he Dragon, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, WWF War Zone, The Unholy War, SCARS.

Issue 13 - October 1998 $10 SPYRO THE DRAGON

DEMOS: Metal Gear Solid, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Test Drive 5, Devil Dice, Ninja, NFL Xtreme, Cool Boarders 3

DEMOS: MediEvil, WarGames Defcon 1, Dragon Seeds, G-Darius, Future Cop LAPD, Colony Wars Vengeance

Issue 18 - December 1898 $10 CRASH BANDICOOT STRATEGY

DEMOS: Tomb Raider III, Crash Bandicoot: WARPED, Bomberman World, Running Wild, Kagero, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo

Issue 16 -January 1999 910 ‘TOMB RAIDER Ill STRATEGY DEMOS: Silent Hill, Moto Racer 2, Brave Fencer Musashi, Apocalypse, Та! Fu

DEMOS: Syphon Filter, Bust A Groove, Shadow Madness, Fisherman's Вай, Akuji the Heartless, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, Street SkBer

Issue 19 - April 1999 $10 STRATEGY

DEMOS: КА: Ridge Racer Type 4 WOW/nMWo. Thunder, Rollcage, Warzone 2100, Rugrats: Search for Reptar

Issue 20 - May 1999 $10 LEGEND OF LEGAIA STRATEGY

DEMOS: Ehrgeiz, бөх 3: Deep Cover Gecko, Legend of Legaia, Contender

Issue 21 - June 1999 $10 GEX 3 STRATEGY

DEMOS: Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, NFL Blitz, Bust-a-Move 4, R4: Ridge Racer Type 4,

Elmo's Letter Adventure Issue 22 - July 1999 $10 ‘STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3 STRATEGY

DEMOS: Ape Escape, MLB 2000, The Next Tetris, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Croc 2, Soul of the Samurai, Bloody Roar 2

moo s

DEMOS: Final Fantasy МІ, 3 Xtreme, Tiny Tank, Jade Cocoon, Macross VF-X 2, You Dont Know lack, Centipede, Ultimate 8-Ball

Issue 24-Soptember 1999 $10 JADE СОСООН STRATEGY

DEMOS: Um Jammer Lammy, Sled Storm, Cho-cobo Racing, Pong, Monaco Grand Prix Racing

O Issue 25 - October 1999 $10 FINAL FANTASY VIII STRATEGY DEMOS: Metal Gear Solid, WipeOut 3, Omega Boost, NFL Xtreme 2, Jet Moto 3, Toy Story 2, Pac-Man World

Issue 26 -November1999 $10 CRASH TEAM RACING STRATEGY DEMOS: Grandia, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Killer Loop, 40 Winks, NFL Blitz, Crash Bandicoot: WARPED, Cool Boarders 3

Issue 27 - Decemba 1999 $10 DINO CRISIS

DEMOS: GT 2, adden NEA NFL 2000, NFL GameDay 2000, NCAA Game Breaker 2000, Cool Boarders 4

Isso 28 - January 2000 $10 L.— RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS STRATEGY DEMOS: Dino Crisis, NHL FaceOff 2000, NBA Basketball 2000, Tarzan, Army Men: Air Attack, WOW Mayhem

Issue 29 - February 2000 $10 MEDAL OF HONOR STRATEGY

DEMOS; Tomba! 2, Tomb Raider The Last Revelation, SuperCross Circuit, MTV Sports Snowboarding

Issue 30 - March 2000 $10 STRATEGY

612 DEMOS: Syphon Filter 2, Crash Team Racing, NCAA Final Four 2000, Spyro 2, Silent. Bomber, Twisted Metal 4

Issue 31-April2000 $0

DEMOS: Colony Wars: Red Sun, Spider-Man, Eagle One: Harrier Attack, Hot Shots Golf 2, Rolicage Stage I!

Issue 32-May 2000 90 ‘SYPHON FILTER 2 STRATEGY

DEMOS: MediEvil Il, NCAA March Madness 2000, NASCAR Rumble, Speed Punks, Rugrats ‘Studio Tour

Issue 33 - June 2000 $10 FEAR EFFECT STRATEGY

DEMOS: X-Men Mutant Academy, Threads of Fate, WWF SmackDown, Gauntlet Legends, Grind Session

Issue 34 - July 2000 $10 1. TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER

DEMOS: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Legend of Dragoon, MLB 2001, Mr. Driller, Star Trek. Invasion

Issue 35 - August 2000 $10 WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE DEMOS: Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles, Tenchu 2, WOW: Magical Racing Tour Destruction Derby Raw, Play with the Teletubbies

Issue 36 - September 2000 $10 SOUL REAVER 2

DEMOS: Grind Session, Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Ms, Pac-Man Maze Madness, Dave ‘Mirra Freestyle BMX, Tyco R/C Racing

Issue 37 - October 2000 $10 STAR WARS

‘DEMOS; Bust-A-Groove 2, RC Revenge, Team. Buddies, Sydney 2000, Muppet Monster ‘Adventure, Sno-Cross Championship Racing

Issue 38 - November 2000 $10

PS2 REVEALED DEMOS: Crash Bash, Incredible Crisis, Jarrett & LaBonte Stock Car Racing, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, UFC VIDEOS: Metal Gear Solid 2

Issue 39 - December 2000 910 CRASH BASH.

DEMOS: Madden NFL 2001, Star Wars Demolition, MTV Sports Pure Ride, Mat Hoffman Pro BMX, Disney's The Emperors. New Groove

Issue 40 - January 2001 $10 ‘GRAN TURISMO 3

DEMOS: Driver 2, Spider-Man, The Grinch, 102 Dalmations, Ату Men Air Attack 2

Issue 41 - February 2001 $10 |_Iz08.

DEMOS: Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Star Wars Demolition, Crash Bash, Cool Boarders 2001, You Don't Know Jack, Mort the Chicken

Issue 42 - March 2001 $10 EASPORTS BIG

DEMOS: CTR: Crash Team Racing, Hot Shots Golf 2, Grind Session, Disney Tarzan

Issue 43 - April 2001 $10 TWISTED METAL:

BLACK DEMOS: Championship Surfer, Power Spike Volleyball, Тірдег5 Honey Hunt

Issue 44 - May 2001 $10 МОН: FRONTLINE

DEMOS: Cool Boarders 2001, MediEvil 2, Legend of Dragoon, Emperors New Groove, Metal Gear Solid, Legacy of Kain, Ape. Escape, Tekken 3, Syphon Filter 2

Issue 45 - June 2001 $10 DARK CLOUD

DEMOS: Grind Session, Hot Shots Golf, Dino Crisis, Klonoa

Issue 46 - July 2001 $10 TOMB RAIDER

DEMOS: Tomb Raider I ll & Last Revelation, Alone in the Dark, Gran Turismo 2, Dave.

‘Mirra: Maximum Remix, Aladdin іп Nasiras Revenge

Issue 47 - August 2001 $10 FINAL FANTASY

DEMOS: Final Fantasy VII VIDEOS: Final Fantasy MI, FFIX, FF Tactics, Klonoa 2, Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing VIDEOS: Final Fantasy trailer

Зиг 48 - September 2001 $10

DEMOS: Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX VIDEOS: Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Okage: Shadow King, Escape from Monkey Island, Drakan Il Legion: The Legend of Excalibur

Issue 49 - October 2001 $10 L—] SILENT HILL2

DEMOS: Cool Boarders 2001, co, Klonoa 2: Lunateas Veil, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing, Portal Runner, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaves, Spy Hunter

Issue 80 - Novembor 2001 $10 GRAND THEFT AUTO Ш

DEMOS: 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

VIDEOS: Dragon Warrior МІ, Syphon Fitter 3

Issue 51 - Decomber2001 $10 L| METAL GEAR SOLID 2

DEMOS: NBA Street, Kinetica, Extermination, Gallop Racer 2001 VIDEOS: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Ico, GameDay 2002, Kinetica

B $10

DEMOS: Monsters, Inc, Sheep Raider, Mary Kate and Ashley's Crash Course, Jumpstart Wild Safari Field Тір

VIDEOS: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, МВА ShootOut 2002

Issue 53 - February 2002 $10 FINAL FANTASY X

DEMOS: Okage: Shadow King,

SSK Ticky Firal Fantasy X, neSpliters 2,

Dynasty Warriors 3, Crash Bandicoot: The

Wrath of Cortex

‘VIDEOS: Batman: Vengeance, Splashdown,

Топу Hawks Pro Skater 3

[| Issue 84 - March 2002 $10 ‘TOMB RAIDER: TNG

DEMOS: Sheep Raider, Monsters, Inc, Twisted Metal: Small Brawl, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, ЕТ.

VIDEOS: Batman: Vengeance, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Jak and Daxter

Issue 58-April2002 $10 VIRTUA FIGHTER &

DEMOS: Maximo, Soul Reaver2, PaRappa the Rapper 2, Frequency, Gitaroo Man, Airblade

VIDEOS: Virtua Fighter 4, Grand Theft Auto Ill, Smuggler's Run 2, Herdy Gerdy

Issue 56 - May 2002 $10 SPIDER-MAN

‘DEMOS: Hot Shots Golf 3, Rez, Jak and. Daxter, Baldur's Gate, SSX Tricky

VIDEOS: Spider-Man, Barbarians, Jak and Daxter

Issue 57 - ипе 2002 %0 STAR WARS.

DEMOS: Medal of Honor: Frontline, Fatal Frame, Herdy Gerdy, Mad Maestro], Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat.

VIDEOS: Delta Force Urban Warfare, Scooby- (3) Stuntmaners Stone, NBA ShootOut

Issue 58 - July 2002 $10 PS2 ONLINE

DEMOS: Mister Mosquito, Aggressive Inline, Knockout Kings 2002, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002, Fireblade, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter VIDEOS: Mark of Kri, Woody Woodpecker, Gravity Games

Don't settle for lame imitations.

NEXT MO

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Advertiser Index

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Capcom USA Inc. 1,3 WWW.capcom.com Entertainment 2-3 WwwW.scea.com Fastpak т usa.eastpak.com Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. 17 www.squaresoft.com Ecko Unlimited з WWW.ecko.com Take 2 Interactive Software 21 www.take2games.com Eidos Interactive, Inc. 6-7 www.eidos.com THO Inc. 7-7 ‘www. thg.com Electronic Arts 8-9 WWW.ea.com Ubi Soft Entertainment 122-123 www.ubisoft.com

Full Sail Real World 49 www.fullsail.com

Official US. PlayStation Magazine

EVE sut OUS ex ok MONTHLY,

On sale now

Castlevania

ЕСМ returns from Konami's crypts to open a casket full of exclusive Castlevania coverage, with never- before-seen screens, inside interviews, and hands- on experience. Also: EGM grabs aisle seats for The Incredible Hulk and Return of the King. Find out how Hollywood's been cooperating with game developers.

(GAMENOVY

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Didn't get enough SMASH! in OPM? Turn to GameNOW for Hulk coverage for every system. They've even got a full SMASHing walkthrough of the games. Also: strategies for Ape Escape 2, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and Warcraft IIl: The Frozen Throne. SMASH SMASH SMASH!!

COMPUTER On sale now

Sims Il

Guess what? Now you can make babies! Check out CGW for the ultra-exclusive first look at the next gen- eration of Sims. Also: 21 reviews, including Shadowbane and Vietcong. And don't miss the killer previews, featuring Tron 2.0, Hidden & Dangerous 2, and Breed. Plus, the worst game in 20 years!

THE ESRB VIDEO & COMPUTER Е GAME RATINGS

Find out whether a computer or video game is right for your home.

Learn more about the Entertainment Software Review Board rating system and how games get rated on www.esrb.org.

This message is brought to you by the Editors of:

EARLY CHILDHOOD

9 EVERYONE

шин paru BY

EEUU pum BY

ADULTS ONLY

ЁШ pon BY

RATING PENDING ® p

Vist wwestbor or call 1-900-771-3772 for more info.

CONTENT RATED BY ESRB

EARLY CHILDHOOD

Titles rated "Early Childhood (EC)" have content that may be suitable for children ages three and older and do not contain any material that parents would find inappropriate.

EVERYONE

Titles rated "Everyone (E)" have content that may be suitable for persons ages six and older. These titles will appeal to people of many ages and tastes. They may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief (for example, slapstick comedy), or some crude language.

TEEN

Titles rated "Teen (T)" have content that may be suitable for persons ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violent content, mild or strong language, and/or suggestive themes.

MATURE

Titles rated "Mature (M)" have content that may be

suitable for persons ages 17 and older. These products may include more intense violence or language than

products in the Teen category. In addition, these titles

may also include mature sexual themes.

ADULTS ONLY

Titles rated "Adults Only (AO)" have content suitable only for adults. These products may include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Adults Only products are not inten-ded to be sold or rented to persons under the age of 18.

RATING PENDING Product has been submitted to the ESRB and is awaiting final rating.

12) ZIFF DAVIS !

Pink Monkey Most Likely to Be a Pop Star

LI Monko Polo Most Likely to Find a Legendary Banana

f

Mr. White Most Likely to Be an Evil Scientist

EI Toro Most Likely to Grab the Bull by the Horns

Natalie Most Likely to Lose Her Wits

„м К 1

| a

Balboa Most Likely to Live in a Meat Locker

Harley Q. Win Most Likely to Annoy the King

жа (да.

] а

Marshall Most Likely to Punch the Ref

Norman Most Likely to Drive a Humvee

EVERYONE

Comic Mischief Mild Violence

Billy Most Likely to Get a Speeding Ticket

Larry

4 Ч 2; Specter Most Likely to Take Over the World.

02003 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Ape Escape is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Ubi Soft and the Ubi Soft logo are trademarks of Ubi Soft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved

Gatching Madness

c=

Stephenson George

Leo

Most Likely to Catch a Fever Most Likely to Walk the Plank Most Likely to Save the World Most Likely to Be Inquisitive

Buzz Arthur Parka Most Likely to Be Lost in Space Most Likely to Get Pierced Most Likely to Chill

Yellow Monkey Most Likely to Walk Like an Egyptian Most Likely to Be a Pro Wrestler

Cleo

300 monkeys. Theyre smarter. Theyre zanier. And they’re trying to take over the world.

PlayStation. | Ubi Soft

COMING SOON та PLAYS TATIONeZ у COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

Part 2 MUTATION

THE SAGA CONTINUES...

www.dothack.com Sadamoto * Ito * Mashimo

ЕМ Mature Sexual Themes т Mild Language Le] Violence ний = PlayStation.c