PLAYSTATION 2 A PlayStation MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE SCREENS OF THIS YEAR'S FASTEST AND MOST FURIOUS RACERS PLAY BURNOUT 3 & TEST DRIVE È ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA 09> | 70992 06968 OPM.1UP.COM $8.99 U.S. $11.99 Canada "sed by Sony Computer Entertainment of America. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are registered tradamarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. wrestling ring, where | see how high | ci wrestlers. The other is the putting green. A good putt depends ona proper grip. | so | don't shatter When it comes to putting, mental preparation is key. For me, bench-pressing a golf cart and acouple hundred push-ups usually dothetrick. While standing with your feet neck-width apart, bend over until you can see the ball past your pectorals. 4 players online is finally ‘up during each round. Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating › ы €) | www.us.playstation.com information. -| Online play requires Internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). Hot Shots Golf is a registered trademark of Sony Your World. Play In Ours” is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. | nkerBreaker007 on Getting Out of ће Sand le always ask how | learned to conquer these mighty sand traps. | don't know. "s like asking how gale-force winds learn to blow just as a dude’s ready to tee All Ido know is that ever since | was a kid, | liked surfing near sand, sitting on sand, even eating sand. But that was on a dare. u Before attempting to get that ball out, thoroughly wax your wedge. Better too much than not enough. Computer Entertainment America Inc, ©2004 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Live In LIV E ХН д} Кн LD. RATING PENDING. Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information. . PlayStation.e © 2004 Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts, “Challenge Everything,” БА, EA GAMES and the EA GAMES logo LLC and Simcoh, LLC. Phat Farm™ is used under license from Phat Fashions, LLC, Def Jam artists appear registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. ви аниме H CALL 7, OVER 40 Hip-H AND TAKE THEN { FS BRAWL Wit 15 DIFFERENT FIGs 3 STYLES R20 ANYTHING-GOE rks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. APONE CARMEN ELECTRA CAPONE COMP CRAZY 1205 BANNER DANNY TREJO DAVID DJ ENUFF р) FELL FE! ELEPHANT MAN ERICK SERMON FAM-LAY FAT JOE FLAVA FLAY FREEWAY GHOSTFACE KILLAH HAVOC HENRY ROLUNS ICET JOE BUDDEN KIMORA LEE ШИ ІР UU KIM LUDACRIS PRODIGY REDMAN SCARFACE SEAN PAUL SHAWNNA SLICK RICK SNOOP DOGG STICKY FINGAZ WARREN G WC XZIBIT -STAR WARS tee | ZATILEFRWS | FIGHT THE GREATEST WARS IN THE GALAXY ANY WAY YOU WANT. У ag 7] GU UR j NOW LIVE THE BATTLES; А in three single player modes or in multiplayer battles with up to 16 people: from one of four different armies and experience open-ended play — where you'll never fight the same battle twice. u | - The way it's ( the classic Star Wars | | ©] лур! [SOFTWARE vehicles — including X-wings, TIE fighters, and AT-ATs. meant to be played _ | ESRB CONTENT RATING _www-estb.org www.starwarsbattlefront.com ment Sepafately). ааа: ROUTE ~ "= POWERED BY à Spy d$ © 2004 Lucasfilm: Беба теле Comy TM as indicated. Allright reser ation” and th a 5 omputer Entertainment Inc. Online icort is of Sony Computer Entertaigment Ж. Xbox Live; the Livelogo, and the Xbox logos are ا‎ С" oL MI nin the Unites State: red by. GameSpy" design are trademarks of justries, Inc. All rights resarved. ا namco www.namco.com POWERED BY солае € <> Gamespy. Simulated Gambling www.esrb.org 505 нне ава Dao Race for Cash and respect, | line or lay it all on th in revolutionary online pink Slip races. sf Every t, in cities like LA, Philly an in underground or sanctioned races, on the track or through the wide open city streets. high speeds bring high risk. And ous-injected obsessions to the limit. Whether Miami. crews af import tuners push their serious rush. Join the Street Racing Syndicate. Upgrade officially licensed vehicles with hundreds of actual aftermarket parts, stickers, paints and vinyls, Then throw it on the дупо to measure your meds before you put it on the track to test your skills. Because in the end. glory's nice. Money and models are better. But driving away with your opponent's ride is just plain sick. SRSgame.com ung If ug ЩЙ 1UP.COM THIS MONTH OPM.1UP.COM The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine homepage. Come here for all the extra bits that we couldn't fit into the magazine. Tamers “Пат t Jt RACING.1UP.COM This issue is packed with racing-game info, so you might want to view your Web experience with all the nonracing stuff fil- tered out. There are similar pages for most popular genres. CLUBS.1UP.COM Giancarlo runs a club called Club Sandwich. You too can be the proprietor of such an establishment if you're i*$ so inclined simply by clicking here and set- ting it up. You get your own URL, a club jour- nal, a club message board, and a place to post images. 10 [OPM September 2004] PLAYSTATION: THE FUTURE Going online with your PSP and PS3. GTA: SAN ANDREAS Your cheat sheet to everything worth knowing. X-MEN LEGENDS Finally—you're getting your chance to roleplay as a mutant. KOJIMA Kojima says the PSP is like KFC—and not just because it's finger-lickin’ good. DEMON STONE Five things you didn't know about the hot new Forgotten Realms title. THE NHL ON ICE Dry your eyes, hockey fans—you don't need the NHL to have high-sticking goodness. LAND OF THE RISING FUN The latest gaming goodness from Japan. THE LIST Seven objects of desire. pose 3€ INPUT 18 YOU LOVE US You love us not. You love us. You love us not. All at op m@ziffdavis.com. М, REVIEWS B6 Spider-Man 2 89 Catwoman 89 Dog's Life 90 Star Ocean: ТИ! the End of Time S2 Powerdrome 92 Street Fighter Anniversary Collection 93 ESPN NFL 2K5 96 Ghosthunter 97 Echo Night: Beyond 9? Malice 97 McFarlane's Evil Prophecy 98 DVDs 102 SPLINTER CELL PANDORA TOMORROW Your map of the Temple Mount Hospital. 104 DRIV3R All Timmies, all secret cars, all landmarks. 107 SOUND STATION Music from DRIV3R. 108 THE GAME PAD Learn all about LCD TVs. 110 NCAA FOOTBALL 2005 Master the game in these easy steps. 112 MADDEN NFL 2005 Learn how to properly use everything new. 114 RED DEAD REVOLVER The game's eight toughest spots revealed. 116 OVERRATED/UNDERRATED Some games get too much respect, others don't get enough. 120 ESSENTIAL SPORTS Great moments in sports videogames. 121 READER REVIEWS Your thoughts on the latest games. QREWIND 122 FIVE YEARS AGO When Final Fantasy was only up to VIII. GAMES COVERED INSIDE 4) Area5l 46 Dynasty Warriors 4: 96 Ghosthunter 42 Metal Gear Acid 54 NHL Faceoff 2005 74 SRS: Street Racing 46 Virtua Quest 60 Astro Boy Empires 42 GoldenEye: Rogue Agent 72 Midnight Club 3: Dub 46 Oddworld: Stranger Syndicate 32 X-Men Legends 41 The Bard's Tale 97 Echo Night: Beyond 81 Gran Turismo 4 Edition 63 Phantom Brave 90 Star Ocean: 78 Burnout 3: Takedown 76 Enthusia 62 Gungrave: Overdose 42 Mortal Kombat: 92 Powerdrome Till the End of Time 89 Catwoman 93 ESPN NFL 2K5 74 Juiced Deception 44 Prince of Persia 2 48 Star Wars Battlefront 42 Champions: Return to 54 ESPN NHL 2K5 62 Katamari Damacy 41 NARC 114 Red Dead Revolver 92 Street Fighter Arms 40 Final Fantasy XII 46 Leisure Suit Larry: 110 NCAA Football 2005 41 Samurai Musashi: Anniversary Collection 41 Conflict: Vietnam 52 Forgotten Realms: Magna Cum Laude 73 Need for Speed Legends 80 Test Drive: Eve of 42 Death by Degrees Demon Stone 112 Madden NFL 2005 Underground 2 86 Spider-Man 2 Destruction 89 Dog's Life 28 Grand Theft Auto: San 97 Malice 47 Neo Contra 102 Splinter Cell Pandora 46 The Urbz: Sims in the City 104 DRIV3R Andreas 56 Mercenaries 54 NHL 2005 Tomorrow 62 Uoh [www.IUP.com] 11 Meet UP (а 1UP.com The all-new 1UP is here, and it's exploding with new features! Ue'ue still got all of that great daily content you've come to know and love, but we're now the first-euer destination for gamers to meet, plau, get informed, and show off. Check out the COOl new stuff you can do! If you have a GameFace, we have a place for you to put it. Show off your game collection YOUR NAME HERE and trade games with others! YOUR FACE HERE YOUR GAMEFACE YOUR GAMES Get YOUR GameFace ЊЕ , \ + u А E. ? | : E 5 = TM You've got a voice, let it be heard! Tell everyone what you're playing or doing. Get clubbing! Join clubs or create your own and invite all of your friends. Make friends with other gamers GANSSUNSOURNAE Ех - including us editors. My day at the office MY CLUBS (7) ^ You Share 3 Friends A 9 ЕСМ Fans е John Davison Members: 364 Oakland CA JOIN THIS CLUB Points: 75,250 [ 3 shoe's World ДЕ Dan Hsu MT Members: 496 Honolulu HI ÎÎÎ oon THIS сијв Points: 65,250 ^ и apak sog te Tuesday, January 20, 2004 517 AM өөк URL SOCOM II Club Sam Kennedy Next generation Consoles Members: 283 San Jose CA JOIN THIS CLUB ЖӘ Points: 33,250 YOUR CLUBS YOUR FRIENDS YOUR JOURNAL Ue're all here. Join us at 1UP.com. MISSION STATEMENT » HENCEFORTH, WE SHALL BE KNOWN ONLY BY OUR USER NAMES « 2 ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA" Editor-in-Chief John Davison Managing Editor Dana Jongewaard Senior Editor Joe Rybicki Reviews Editor Chris Baker Previews Editor Thierry Nguyen News Editor Giancarlo Varanini Senior Art Director Bob Conlon Art Director Ryan Vuik Graphic Designer Tina Huynh Editorial Contributors Zoe Flower, Darren Gladstone, John Scalzi, Dave Smith, ‘Andrew Vestal, Robin Wilson, Todd Zuniga Cover Photo Ted Tamburo Copy Chief Tom Edwards Copy Editors Greg Ford, Susie Ochs, Maritza Refuerzo Manufacturing Director Carlos Lugo Art Production Manager Michele Manousos Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel Production Manager Monica Brent Assistant Production Manager Teresa Newson Senior Vice President Dale Strang Editorial Director John Davison Creative Director Simon Cox Business Director Bill Daniher. 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Violence ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org STREET RACING SYNDICATE AREA 51 ACE COMBAT 5: THE UNSUNG WAR E COMBA ATHENS 2004 « VAN HELSING e DRIVE: EVE OF DESTRUCTION « ECHO NIGHT: BEYOND! STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT z= FORGOTTEN REALMS DEMON STONE GRAN TURISMO 4 Demo Disc Producers Gary Barth, Manuel Sousa, Jerome Strach, Chris Tan Marketing Team Steve Williams, Jesse Caid Executive Producers Andrew House, Marilyn Weyant Format Q&A Sam Bradley, DeMarlo King Account Coordinator Eric Ippolito Programming and interface artwork by Lifelike Productions, Inc. Lead Programmers William Bohan, Ron Midthun, Avery Lodato 3D Artists Jason Robinson, Philip Williamson, David Hayes Producer Јеѕѕі Harrison President Katherine Williams Technical Director. Tim Edwards Maimoona Block, Kirsten Costello, Tom Gillan, Michelle Manahan, Gerald Martin, Jim Williams Did you buy a copy of our magazine that did not contain a demo CD? 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This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from state to state. | A psycho psionic thriller | from the creators of Timesplitters” = Coming Soon www.codemasters.com/secondsight z FREE RADIÇAL Mild Language GENIUS AT PLAY Violence © 2004 Free Radical Design Limited. All rights reserved. "Second Sight"(tm), "TimeSplitters"{tm) and "Free Radical Design” (tm) are trademarks of Free Radical Design L e Radical Design Limited. Published by The Codemasters Software Company Limited ("Codemasters"). "Codemasters"&) is a registered trademark and "GENIUS AT PLAY"(tm) is CONTACT OPM Snail Mail OPM 101 Second Street 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 E-mail opm(gziffdavis.com and check us out at www.lUP.com w * У ДР TATTOO OF THE MONTH This Spyro tattoo is on my friend Frank Ferraro (we added Sparks after his kids told us they are always together). | have my PS2 in my shop, and it’s great to get in a quick game between tattoos. Mark Lackenbacher Marky Mark's Tattoos Saugerties, NY markymark@ulster.net 18 [OPM September 2004] HHA Conzner. Ve Mitmes Aco Wit 39738 96009 (Соате res HE Нет rer) Ves Т нее senate Gite is Comins To THE POP As һ Dewy тё, LEV US COW Ung Gowo ON. KO сме ua NORE SEN бы nis DNE CYL Чы; ( “TRANS IND ADVANCED | en LETTER OF THI MONTH This probably isn’t really Letter of the Month mate- rial. We just thought it was cool that he wrote it on a military ration box. CHEESE TORTELLINI IN TOMATO SAUCE WEB OF DECEIT? I just got my new issue today, and І hoped to see Spider-Man 2 get a 5-star (octagon, sorry) score. | quickly flipped to the Reviews section and scanned the page. Nothing. | scanned it again, ditto. So | flipped to Contents, looking for the list of games covered. It wasn't on it. But then | thought fast and noted that the game had just come out today. Then | remem- bered an article on Batman: Dark Tomorrow that said that if a review copy was issued late, something was wrong. | hope this isn't the case with Spider-Man 2. Ronald Purpura via e-mail You're right, often we'll get review copies late (or not at all) if the game isn't expected to do well. We always assume that this is because the pub- lisher would like to get some sales in before the d news gets around. However, this is not the e with Spider-Man 2. Instead, it's a combina- tion of Marvel's licensing practices and Activi- sion's desire to lock in exclusive early reviews. As you may have noticed this month, though, you're not missing all that much. SHARK TANK | recently read an article where you rated the product GameShark Live, and you said that using cheats could shorten a game's life span. How could a GameShark shorten a game's life span? Could it damage the disc? Or the memory card? Justin Fang via e-mail ОРМ КД SED ТЕГ" Ола Fue: Sal Нюр ON, 9405 NET WT. 8.0 OZ. (227 GRAMS) No, no, no—we meant that using cheats shortens the time you'll spend on the game. You know, since you won't need to try as hard to beat it. A GameShark won't damage your games. RANDOM ACTS In Issue 83, | noticed that you refer to the fact that random battles in RPGs suck major ass. I'd just like you to know that | agree with you 100 percent. It all started back when I had а Super Nintendo. | played a game called Chrono Trigger that turned my life around. It was the best frickin’ game ever! | noticed it was pro- duced by Square, and І decided I'd check out another title of theirs: Final Fantasy (it doesn't matter which one | tried; | try to forget that period of my life). At first, the game was all right, but then | reached the 7th Circle of Hell: random battles. Monsters appeared out of nowhere; there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. | died almost instantly. I’ve hated Final Fantasy games ever since. Final Fantasy XII may change my mind. Let's hope so, because Final Fantasy games have some pretty sweet story lines and awesome graphics. Kurt Prenger via e-mail Yeah, random battles sure are annoying. We're not sure we'd completely give up on FF games because of them, though. RICE CITY In the August 2004 issue, you wrote that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was the third best- GAMERS ARE TALKING ABOUT STRAIGHT FROM THE OPM MESSAGE BOARD Our monthly roundup of hot topics, gathered from the OPM message board at opm.lUP.com. “== | САТ SCRATCH FEVER As we went to press, the widespread opening of Catwoman in theaters was still a week away. Will these com- ments be eerily prescient a week from now? Or unreasonably pessimistic? Let's watch! “This looks pathetic,” says Apocalypse_Cow. “The writing looks terrible, the CGI looks like a poor PS2 FMV, and no one’s ever actually fighting, based on the trailer. It looks hackneyed and poor and just [like] a terrible movie.” Carnal_Zen agrees, saying “The best we can hope from this film is that it'll be better than Free Willy 3.” Looks like it's unanimous, with zjr1717 chiming in, “Catwoman might surpass Van Helsing as the biggest pile of crap to be released this summer, and that’s saying something.” Wy spy FAULT LINES : dir The debut of the Grand Theft Auto: San {É amga А Andreas box art had the boards buzzing. E Spideybuddy appeared uninterested, 90 13. “Wow, its almost the same as the last two. Kind of sums up the game, huh?" There was widespread disagreement, with magic- thighs saying, “It actually makes me want it just a little more than | already did. Poker chips, huh? That would be sweet if you could earn some coin playing cards.” "Why does Rockstar keep pushing the bike thing?" asked KillaGorilla. “Bikes are only cool when you are, like, 10 and don't have a car yet. They should have added a cooler vehicle, like a hovercraft!” SOCOM DREAMS Ina thread about features fans would aM like to see in SOCOM Ill, TrinitySon busted out the following: “1 want ghillie suits [see below] to give snipers the proper SEAL attire.” "| want to be able to choose the game type on each map,” said Blake D. “One other thing | was thinking of is being able to climb trees. Maybe you'd have to bring something from the armory to get up the tree—like a rope for example—but you could get up trees and snipe from there.” “Vehicles would also be a nice little Arkinum. ind ' P g J ПЕ An ow LM R 6 ДШ de W ju T J Р. A 7 2% INPUT selling game in Japan, but Capcom was the publisher. What gives? That's not a misprint; Capcom is publishing Vice City in Japan. This happens a lot between differ- ent territories, actually. It tends to be a matter of whether the publisher has a significant presence in the new market or not. Last month you asked why DRIV3R would include the Timmy Vermicellis minigame if they wanted to separate themselves from the GTA franchise. | can tell you why, and the answer is Grand Theft Auto Ill. If you recall, you get a mission from Asuka to kill an under- cover cop named Tanner who is “more or less useless out of his car.” | think that would cause some sort of comeback by the DRIV3R guys, though | personally think GTA’s insult was bet- ter incorporated into the game. Ah, touché. We'd forgotten about that. And we have to say we agree with you about it being done better in GTA. In recent issues you have mentioned something called Pocari Sweat. What is it? It's an energy drink—sorry, “ion supply drink” — from Japan with a deliciously compelling name. As the official website says, “Water quality varies by country, but POCARI SWEAT is the same everywhere. Enjoy familiar POCARI SWEAT in the countries you visit!” 20 [OPM September 2004] Do you know who made the music for Freedom Fighters? BLOG OF THE MONTH “One thing that really bothered me about Para- site Eve was the fact that a | few wacky-looking animals somehow necessitated an Yep. Oh, you wanted us to tell you? The music was com- posed by Jesper Kyd, who also composed the scores for the Hitman and Headhunter series. You can own just about any of these on CD; just search for the games at evacuation of a city of 7 million people. That's only grown more unrealistic with time, especially as we've seen New York City fail to be evacuated when it was under attack by In Issue 83 you stated that Midnight Club 3 will | exploding jetliners. Quite have aftermarket parts and that Dub will be the opposite, in fact; most onboard helping with the game—but will there still be street racing with some import cars like Hondas and Nissans? It just wouldn't feel like Midnight Club without some imports. people stood their ground and helped the unfortu- nate. And even if the mayor somehow decided that kicking everyone out of Manhattan was neces- We can’t confirm yet which manufacturers or cars sary after a single opera will be in the game, but yes, Midnight Club 3 will singer exploded at definitely still have some imports. The idea is to Carnegie Hall, the chances add the pimped-out rides to the game while keep- | that the population of the ing the fundamentals of Midnight Club intact. city would meekly accept that mandate are laugh- able at best.” Jeremy Parish On some demo discs, OPM adds a Japanese game demo. Can you put more Japanese demos on the disc? CLUB OF THE MONTH “This is the place for the few of us that use Macs. Be careful what you wish for, buddy. We asked This is our refuge. Discuss the Underground folks to hook us up with another | any helpful applications, exclusive Japanese demo to go along with Space help each other out with Fisherman and Chaindive, and they dug up Uoh Mac-related issues, talk for this month's disc. It's a really interesting idea: about Mac gaming, just sit You play a hapless fish who has to survive around and be better than anglers' attempts on his life. Unfortunately, the PC users, etc.” game starts with a really long tutorial—entirely in Mac Users Club Japanese—which left us scratching our heads. Maybe you'll have better luck figuring it out. GOING UNDERGROUND Serious Samis fun. Those little suicidal guys alone make the demo disc worth it. The special moves in Ultimate Muscle аге cool, but just because you have cool special moves does not mean your game doesn't suck. | liked pretty much all the demos. Red Star is a пісе little 2D game, almost like Contra. | liked Misson: Impossible and Serious Sam. And Galactic Wrestling is hot. NOTHING! Q. Back in the mid 1970s, there was a one-of-a-kind arcade game in a local arcade. It was a physically big game, a pro- jection screen that showed real footage of WWII planes zip; by and a big antiaircraft gun, with recoil, that you shot at them with. | am entertaining the idea of purchasing one for my home. Can you point me in the right direction as to where to look for one? Even the name of the game would be a start. A. Do the words Battle Shark mean anything to you? Q. Who was that on the cover of the June 2004 issue? Was she real or CG? She’s a mega-hottie! A. She is 100 percent artificial. Q. In Issue 83, in the “Get Con- nected” section on page 109, it said that if you wanted your PC and PS2 plugged up at the same time all you needed was the cable/DSL router. Does this mean that you can be watching satellite TV while playing online PS2 games? A. Sure, but most satellite compa- nies do not provide broadband access, so it’s sort of a moot point. But yes, if you had standard cable TV, you would be able to watch TV and play online simultaneously. bed Gave , | | T | p Monsters ii Their First Job. ! ve ©2004 Wizards. INustration by Adam Rex property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Cracking skulls on the way to fight the Big Bad Guy started in the DUNGEONS & Dragons” roleplaying game. And with thousands of monsters and countless ways to customize them, it's still the best way to go to work. We did it first. We still do it best. playdnd.com EXPERIENCE COUNTS 53 | f P 4 PlayStation.e - SD 712. Fayt's vacation on the peaceful world of Hyda is shattered when an unknown military force attacks. > d s ba Separated from all he knows and loves, Fayt must brave the galaxy to recover what he has lost. j WWW.Square-enix-usa.com O DOLBY! Published.by Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. Blood у Sq SQUAREENIX. | | 3 err PRO LOGIC П Violence WWW.SQEXM.COM pss NEC RT __. OF TO AN ENDL AND SUF FERIN С # " Ghostly New MATURE 17+ Blood and Gore Intense Violence Sexual Themes ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org KONAMI is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION, © 2004 KONAMI. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. SILENT HILL 4 THE ROOM™ is a trade: puter Entertainment Tokyo. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Micro поп" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Ine atings icoi ment Softw X расар PlayStation.e e mark of Konami Computer Entertainment Tok Corporation in the United < ssociation. 2004 Konan is a trademark of the Е Inc © 1999 ког other Home is definitely where the heart is. Along with some spleen. And a little chunk of liver in the hall. “Best Adventure Game of E3" - IGN.com “Forget about pushing the envelope. Silent Hill 4 tears it to pieces.” - ХЕМ Magazine “In the end, Konami’s game will, without а doubt, be the preeminent scare fest of 2004." - IGN.com Grisly Environme www.konami.com/usa ЫЫ GURLOK E LEELEE] DOWNLOADS Games п COMPLETE! THANK YOU 26 [OPM September 2004] PAY TO PLAY HOW MUCH IS ONLINE GAMING WORTH TO YOU? POWER © Sony CEA's online strategy has worked. There were 38 online-enabled PS2 games in 2005, and there will be 52 by the end of 2004. Gamers have spent a collective 47 million hours and counting playing SOCOM II online, and the 64 percent of PlayStation 2 users who have yet to participate in online gaming plan to do so within the immediate future. But no matter how many stats the company throws out or how many games support online play, there's still a prob- lem—Sony's online service is not like Xbox Live, and that puts Sony at a great disadvantage. At least from a money standpoint, it does. Not only does Microsoft earn revenue from the basic Xbox Live subscription fee, but downloadable content also provides an opportunity to make a SONY'S ONLINE SERVICE IS NOT LIKE XBOX LIVE. little extra cash. Meanwhile, the PS2 hard drive lies dormant, waiting for new levels, cars, and other sorts of goodies that can help extend a game's longevity and expand a publisher's wallet. Sony isn't completely in the dark about this. The company knows it needs a better infrastruc- ture in place to take advantage of these things. Andrew House, executive vice president of Sony CEA, has talked briefly about the company's plans to combat Xbox Live with stronger support for matchmaking, tournaments, and clans, as well as the addition of a single logon that can be used for all PS2 games. This single logon can then be used as a means for billing what Sony CEA calls "mini transactions," which basically amounts to paying for downloadable content—whether it's episodic, part of a persistent world, or even user-created items—but in small chunks. These types of downloads may not only bene- fit publishers monetarily but also game creation itself. "It can definitely be a way to reduce risk for publishers. Let's start by building something small; if they buy it, we'll build more, shorter, cheaper games, but you could buy more of them,” says Olivier Dauba, producer for Splinter Cell Pan- dora Tomorrow. "Gamers might be more likely to try out something for a few bucks online and then buy more if they like it. Pay as you play is a nicer way to think about it.” From another standpoint, mini transactions can also present new challenges. "If you are trying to design a game around a billing methodology, then | think you are in trouble," says Rod Humble, vice president of development at Sony Online Enter- tainment. "If it fits in well with the title, then yes, it can work. But you have to design the game with that billing methodology in mind. No billing method is going to be the difference between suc- cess and failure. The burden is squarely on game design. So if you have a great game design which incidentally requires small payments for down- loads, then it could work, [but] the game design must come first.” Of course, it all begs a bigger question: Should Sony CEA even bother to integrate these features into the PS2 at this point? With the system near- ing the end of its primary life cycle, as well as the forthcoming release of the PSP and the unveiling of the next PlayStation at E3 2005, it'd seem wiser at this point for the company to wait for new hardware to arrive. Plus, it keeps in line with Sony CEA's previous strategy of marrying hard- ware with a killer application—in this case, a brand-new online service. In fact, the PSP seems to be at the center of much of this, since it has the abilities to download different media via memory sticks, connect with the PS2, and con- nect wirelessly to a network. It offers so many more avenues for a new online service that the PS2 simply can't provide because of its aging technology. Even if Sony CEA doesn't wait for the arrival of new hardware, the PSP will almost defi- nitely become the focal point of its online strategy for years to come. < ff Atarecent news conference in Japan, Ken Kuturagi, president of Sony, said that up to 16 players can connect to each other wirelessly without using any sort of main connection hub. However, it's still not clear what you can do to play online games if there aren't 15 other PSP owners around. [www.lUP.com] 27 28 [OPM September 2004] THE CITIES The state of San Andreas is home to three major cities, each one roughly the size of the entirety of Vice City. Each city will be more detailed than those in previous GTAs, with loads more interior environments. 1 LOS SANTOS: Loosely based on Los Angeles, this sprawling metropolis teems with gang warfare and movie deals, all taking place under an oppres- sive layer of yellowish smog. 2 SAN FIERRO: Based on San Francisco, this is a densely populated, seaside city. Its treacherous hills make getting around more of a challenge. 3 LAS VENTURAS: Based on Las Vegas, Las Venturas is a den of casinos, strip clubs, and organized crime set in the middle of an unforgiving desert. THE COUNTRY San Andreas' cities are separated by hundreds of virtual miles of country- side, totaling an area roughly twice the size of Vice City. The scenery varies widely, from lush pine forests to forbidding mountains to lonely deserts. Furthermore, sprinkled throughout the country are a double handful of small towns, each with its own unique character. Even better: The only time you'll ever get a loading screen within the game is when going into buildings—the exterior setting of the entire state of San Andreas is one seamless location. If you wanted to, you could walk from Los Santos to Las Venturas at the other end of the state and never have a sec- ond of load time. THE MAIN CHARACTER The most interesting thing about Carl "CJ" Johnson isn't his gang-ridden background on the streets of Los Santos. It's his future: In a GTA first, CJ will now evolve over time. The more he uses a weapon, for example, the more proficient he becomes with that weapon. Similarly, if he runs a great deal, he becomes faster with better stamina. He can even build up his swim- ming skills (yes, San Andreas will finally allow you to swim out of vehicles that fall into water). CJ's behavior doesn't only affect his skills but also his appearance. If he fails to get enough exercise, he'll get flabby, and if he consistently eats badly (eating is, after all, required to keep up his health), he'll get downright obese. Luckily, physical activity helps battle the bulge, making the new bicycle a dual-purpose vehicle. THE SUPPORTING CAST CJ begins the game surrounded by his old gang, the Orange Grove Families. These street toughs will accompany him on his early missions. Eventually, he'll be able to put his own gang together, occupying segments of Los San- tos and bringing in a little extra cash on the side. Later, he'll be able to own property in other San Andreas cities, including a fully functional Las Ven- turas casino. STREET FIGHTING The GTA combat engine is getting a serious overhaul for San Andreas: Auto-targeting, for example, is now much more intelligent, targeting ene- mies and avoiding civilians. Hand-to-hand fighting is also improved with targeting, combos, and different stances. € "It's brilliant.”. psm "ESPN NFL 2K5 will own your soul." - IGN.com It's the last month of summer vacation. Did you waste it outside, or did you meet your goal of eight hours of PS2 a day? Back in the day, the OPM office had a Hydro Thunder arcade machine that ran 24/7. This week, that game and Rush 2049 are packaged together for the bargain price of $19.99. 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. Seems like forever ago that Madonna and Britney kissed at last year's VMAs. It was all over the TV until a certain boob popped out at the Super Bowl in Feb. Most publishers aren't releasing games today, as not to get trampled by Madden NFL 2005. Working Designs is counterprogramming by shipping Growlanser: Generations. Will Martha Stewart spend her birthday behind bars? And if she does, what will her cellmate give her? ESPN NFL 2К5 is out. It is marked down straight out of the gate to $19.99. It's a decent alternative to Madden if you're a little short on cash. NEW GAMES: Cryogenically frozen-in- time baseball great Ted Williams turns 86. Wouldn't it be cool if they figured out how to unthaw these fools that did this to themselves? Then Walt Disney would kick Eisner's ass. = Armored Core: Nexus Hot Shots Golf Fore!, Ghosthunter, The Guy Game, Astro Boy, and are all scheduled to у come out today. Check ww.lUP.com before you buy any of them. NEW GAMES: Funnymen Dave Chappelle, Craig Kilborn, and Steve Guttenberg were born today. OK, funny is relative. Street Racing Syndicate revs into stores. If you'd rather virtually kill some ani- mals, Rapala Pro Fishing and Cabela's Deer Hunt 2005 Season come out. NEW GAMES: It's National Presidential Joke Day. See pic h n for some of the above funny business. There may not be a hockey season, but NHL 2005 will be out this week, along with Terminator 3: The Redemption and ShellShock: Nam '67. NEW GAMES: Tomorrow is Left- Handed Day. Go out and buy your crazy backward friend something from the Leftorium. Open Water (think | Blair Witch meets Jaws) opens in theaters today. August. The end of the summer movie season. When film companies toss crap like Alien vs. Predator and Yu-Gi-Oh! at the Screen, hoping to recoup the cost of making such trash. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid opens and closes this weekend. At least the first one had J.Lo and Ice Cube. This one stars someone named Nicholas Hope. OPM staffers Bob C. (August 10), Scooter (August 15), and Tina H. (August 26) have August birthdays. Looks like John is going to be springing for a lot of free lunch- es. Wish them well on their 1 pages. If the names Steve Cartwright and David Crane make you pause in reverence, then head to the Classic Gaming Expo this weekend. Go to www.cgexpo.com for info or to see who those guys are. It's Race Your Mouse Day. What kind of mouse? “BEST FIGHTING GAME OF E3” O G Бат “BEST FIGHTING GAME OF E3” IT WILL KDNSUME Vnu. К OCTOBER 2004 /MORTALKOMBATOECEPTION.COM w JDMIDWAY Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating о 4 i 7 : => POWERED BY | ; tation.e X uve @ веса information. RAND um] yf Midway Amusement Games, LLC. MORTAL 5 na MIR a circle (одб and all char. responsibility or the content o by permission, Midway Amuse ly tries and аге used under license from (tor PlayStation 2) and Memory Gard (8MB) (for Pla Long relegated to fighting games, the merry mutants that comprise the X-Men are finally getting their own action= RPG. Activision has just announced four- player co-op support, so think of this as a four-player Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance with mutant claws, optic blasts, and robots. Comic book geeks will go nuts over all the homages to X-Men history, and action-RPG fans get а slick'new game to pound on. This Southern lass is Rogue, a previ- ously unannounced X-Man. She's using the Southern Strike power, which looks.to us like a mighty big punch. The overall pool of X-Men is fifteen, and right now, the соп | firmed ont Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, ightcrawler, Cyclops, Iceman, arid. Mr. errated Cajun;“«Gambit. See these four X-Men portraits in the cor- ner? Each one is mapped to a button on the D-pad, so switching between them is extremely easy. While you control one X-man, the A.l. takes over for the other three, follow- ing the basic scripts you outlined in the Sta- fug menu. The three Xs to the right of the Ith bar indicate how many "extreme" Look for plenty of carnage, thanks to destructible environments. Sometimes, кч ап objective, you just need to blow jp. Other times, you might have to do things like freeze items, or weld holes shut via optic blast, in order to save someone. The environment is filled with lots of stuff that can be exploded and/or toppled over. un in tanden? With just. A ton, you can have all foi à P neously attack a single targe ү combo points and mad loot. Looks like Wolverine is ignoring that call, as he’s busy going berserk on some random hood Acolytes. This K is none other than a sentinel, those nasty mutant-hunting ова. This isn't even a boss, it's just ‘another grunt, albeit a very tall and mighty “опе. For this mission, the X-Men are tasked with destroying the sentinel-production facilities on,the U.S.S. Arbiter. Many classic ‘villains vili boss о it up. Ж [КЛР com] зз Ф HYPE GHOST BUSTED BLIZZARD HIJACKS STARCRAFT: GHOST DEVELOPMENT We should've seen it coming. While show- ing off StarCraft: Ghost at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, members of the team at Nihilistic com- mented that they weren't entirely sure of the game's direction in terms of the balance of stealth- and action-oriented gameplay. Plus, the team was still figuring out how to truly make it feel as though players were a part of an epic inter- planetary battle similar to those that take place in the StarCraft real-time-strategy game. Well, it seems as though that uncertainty may THAT UNCERTAINTY MAY HAVE CAUSED BLIZZARD TO TAKE AWAY GHOST. 34 [OPM September 2004] have been what caused Blizzard to ultimately take Ghost away from Nihilistic. Both parties are tight- lipped about the details of the breakup, but ВІ! zard did offer a general comment stating, “Nihilis- tic has finished its contribution,” and that Blizzard looks forward to building on the preexisting aspects of the game. But Blizzard still isn’t handling the game's development internally—it's far too busy with World of WarCraft and other projects. Instead, the company has handed the new development duties over to Swingin’ Ape Studios, the minds behind the surprisingly entertaining Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. “The team at Swingin’ Ape Studios is a very talented group,” says Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard. "We're confi- dent that this partnership will result in titles that achieve the level of quality that players have come to expect from Blizzard products." Sadly for gamers, this alsó means Ghost has been delayed yet again, making it unlikely the game will arrive in stores by late 2004. < THE WATCHDOG | SILLY MOVIE STUDIO! REVIEWS ARE FOR GAMERS! JOHN SCALZI is our man keeping an eye on things for the benefit of all gamers. You can see more of his thoughts on www.scalzi.com. Movie studio Warner Bros. is apparently getting tired of licensing its titles to videogame makers just to have the games suck—yes, that's you, Enter the Matrix—so Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Senior VP Jason Hall announced in May that the studio would require game makers to pay Warner Bros. extra royalties if the games made from its movies stank. How to know? The studio would look at the aggregate review scores of the game from various media. If the score was below 70 percent, penalties would kick in. “The bad games are over," Hall proclaimed. Hall is right about movie tie-in games often being rancid: poorly thought-out, badly coded, full of bugs, and no fun to play. They're bad enough that | think the general assumption is that if a game is based on a movie, it's going to bad. So if the licensor is putting its foot down and saying it will penalize for craptitude, good for them. But this isn't the way. This idea is predicated on the notion that game reviews are something other than what they are—deeply subjective opin- ions that can be influenced by any number of fac- tors, many of which have nothing to do with the game. What if the game's an FPS and the reviewer prefers RPGs? What if the reviewer hates the property it's based on? What if the reviewer just had a relationship fall apart and needs to take NO PSP DELAY Despite initial reports to the contrary, Sony says the PSP is still on track for release in Japan before the end of the year and that the North American release hasn't changed from the original March target. However, there are growing concerns that the amount of software for both launches will be quite limited despite the growing support for the system. THAT'S RIDDICKULOUS If you've been waiting for The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay to show up on PS2, you're gonna have to wait a little longer. Vivendi Uni- 3 versal has gone on eo record saying that the 4 à Xbox game based on A Vin Diesel's character from the movies Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick will remain exclusive to the Xbox and PC—at least for now. But take comfort in knowing that some of the game's special effects wouldn't look quite as good on PS2. | (апа also likely a geeky young male) and therefore has, ahem, “addressable needs”? Alternately, what if there’s a game critic out there who, in talking to a game maker's publicist, notes that his review could go either way and then casually notes he's had his eye on an iPod he can't quite afford? If you don't think either of these scenarios could happen, well, you need to get out more, friend. The top-tier critics (yes, like at OPM) likely wouldn't be targets or culprits for GAME MAKERS WOULD PAY EXTRA ROYALTIES IF THE GAMES STANK. out his misery on something? And let's not for- get: What if the reviewer is simply a moron? It does happen, you know. Another reason to be wary of linking royalties to reviews: Let's say a game maker has paid a lot of money to buy a movie tie-in license and realizes close to the ship date that the game is on the bubble. Nothing wrong with it, but it's clearly not great. Let's say the royalty penalty would be the difference between the game maker making its quarterly estimates or not. If your company's well-being is on the line, is it worth it to you to influence the critic, who is, after all, only human this crap—they've got journalism experience and dental (i.e., they have ethics and decent compen- sation). But this still leaves a lot of wiggle room for manipulation in the other tiers. Game reviews are meant for consumers, not game makers or game licensors. | applaud WB for wanting games based on its movies to be better— | want them to be better, too. But factoring reviews into royalties will just increase pressure on game makers to influence reviews—it's cheaper and easier than fixing games. The end result: The bad games wouldn't be over. You just couldn't trust the media to tell you about them. < Ф HYPE A CALAMITY FOR ACCLAIM Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for Acclaim, they do. In its quarterly state- ment, the company reported a loss of $25.4 mil- lion, which, in combination with a financing agree- ment that expires in August, may push the company to apply for bankruptcy protection, though Acclaim...err, claims it has another agree-, ment in place to borrow $30 million. On top of all that, both the Turok and Major League Baseball licenses have been stripped from Acclaim because of the company's alleged inabil- ` ity to pay royalties for them. While the Turok license has lost its luster since the release of the Nintendo 64 game, losing the MLB license would be a particularly strong blow since it's one of the few properties that performs relatively well at retail for the company. But it may not end up los- ing either license—Acclaim contends that royalties have been paid for both, and the company will fight to retain them in court. That's not all. Battleborne Entertainment, the developer behind Combat Elite: WWII Paratroop- ers, has filed a preliminary injunction against Acclaim preventing the release of the game. Bat- tleborne claims that Acclaim has failed to make scheduled payments and that Acclaim threatened to release the game before making payments. It's a gigantic mess, but Acclaim always seems to get out of these situations by the skin of its teeth. «€ worth the money. | who buys back games, 4 l'm too trusting. | take a lot on faith—for example, that all the games | buy are going to be One thing | take for granted is that experi- enced developers are pushing to the edge of what the PS2 hardware is capable of. However, it seems that only a few developers are finally delivering what we were promised from PS2 36 [OPM September 2004] hardware, and hardly anybody has even bothered to tinker with peripherals like the hard drive or EyeToy yet. Now that PS3 is probably only a cou- ple years away, it's likely that developer resources will be sucked up by the new system’s launch titles and the PS2 will never reach its full poten- ON THE LOOSE 5 Turok raptors have Sate escaped from the Acclaim enclosure, but there's a chance they may be recap- tured or even find a new home. tial. And as the cycle begins again, | wonder if the remaining years of PS2 and the first year of PS3 might be semimediocre. | also tend to assume that sequels are going to be improvements over their predecessors and that cross-platform titles won't suck when jammed into the PS2's smaller brain. And that's a perfectly fair assumption—l should be able to take it for granted that PS2 games will constantly improve, and that when a sequel takes two years HARD CEL TIME FOR TECH DOMINATION Sony has big plans for Cell technology— plans that go way beyond PlayStation 3 but function as a part of the company's strategy to take over your entire living room. When Cell processors are ready to go into mass production (most likely sometime in 2005), Sony will produce televisions based on the technology, which presum- ably allows these sets to connect to the Internet for the purpose of receiving pro- gram guides and schedules—essentially functioning like TiVo when used in combina- tion with other Cell-based products. The first Cell-powered televisions are expected to hit the market in 2006, preceding the launch of Sony's next console. Much of this strategy of conquering households across the United States and the world comes in direct response to tech- nology giant Microsoft, which has made substantial steps toward integrating the PC into all facets of home entertainment and will continue to do so with the release of its next console. << 2 was a seeming lack of craftsmanship and polish. For example, when Max bends over, his coattails stick out horizontally like a stiff board. At this stage of the PS2's life span, this lack of polish is unacceptable. The whole thing reminded me of playing Quake on the Nintendo 64. | guess it was just the general crappiness of it all. My naive faith has burned me for the last time, and from now on, l'm not buying any WILL THE REMAINING YEARS OF PS2 AND THE FIRST YEAR OF PS. BE SEMIMEDIOCRE? and $10 million to develop, it's going to be worth the time and money of a dedicated fan. Such is not the case with the PS2 version of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. The first hour of this hawker is about as fun as cleaning ashtrays. That is unless you like sitting through endless load screens while getting fleeced for 50 bucks. What bothered me most about Max Payne new games until I’ve played a demo or rented them first. As for Max Payne 2, my copy will end up in the used-game bin next to Sky Odyssey and Fantavision—and I'll be lucky to get back a third of what | paid. Then someone's going to come along and buy it, because he'll make the Same assumptions | did. Poor sap. «€ Pe 285) eg , 531417 E PlayStation.2 DUR , Le «Ji There are more than 900 teams from 21 divisions and 23 leagues playing for 6 different Cups on World Tour Soccer 2005. You'll never have to go to a pub at 5 a.m. to see yours play again. PA аЙ (57827, = ) e. PlayStation.2 L TIVE INTY DUR WAE DE | www. 989 SPORTS:.com Фф HYPE y 2281 Em fea XE AA “жя Virtüa Fighter Illustration by 123klan.com 38 [OPM September 2004] “There are plenty of games waiting in the cupboards. If you area very creative team, you may find the bring them back to life.” play, and new challenges.” "The road to hell is paved with examples of people pushing a franchise too far." new emotions, new game- ^| don't think people neces- more than 500,000 copies.” sarily want something new. Known brands provide cus- tomers comfort and trust." unique key to success. Fran- chises are worth it only if you try hard to make each sequel unique by providing "Franchises are not the read the whole piece yourself to find out who said what.) there were ПО new intellec- tual properties launched. “In the last couple of years, The franchise-remix phenomenon explained through five pithy quotes. (You'll have to Only five went on to sell FRGNUnISE REMIX E OLD DOLS, NEW TRICKS Just about every other game released these days seems to be a sequel. Some call it a curse of unimaginative thinking; others say it’s the natural order of things and ought not be questioned. But we've noticed a new wind that's blown this trend in a slightly different direction. Lately, more and more game designers are taking respected franchises— their own or someone else’s—and giving them face-lifts. In some cases, this is little more than a slight retooling; in others, it’s a drastic redesign that leads to a game that shares only minor elements with its nominal predeces- sors. But it’s almost always an interesting take on a familiar franchise. Where is this trend coming from? In part, it's due to the hit-driven market that makes publishers wary of investing in entirely new properties. “In the last couple of years, there were 110 new intellectual properties launched [in the game market],” says Steve Allison, chief marketing officer for Midway. “Of those 110, only five went on to sell more than 500,000 copies. This is a daunting statistic. Games cost about $10 million, on average, to produce, and failure to sell more than 500,000 units is very painful versus these eco- nomics. It’s important for companies to keep testing new properties, but it’s suicide if it’s the sole component of their business plan. So | think it is smart, when applicable, for all of us to apply known brands that help make an instant connection for consumers.” [www.IUP.com] 39 & HYPE " GARLAND |MP-FIGHT RUN 53 e MAGIC DRIHK ITEM Yozo Sakagami, producer of Namco's Tekken spin-off Death by Degrees, has a similar approach: “We ask ourselves, ‘What do we have to do to have a customer play an innovative game in this market?’ One way is to take a clas- sic franchise in a new, different direction and add innovative gaming features and components. Adding innovative features to a game that already has mass appeal allows the customer to accept and embrace the new game.” The concern with this approach is that it has the potential to stifle creativ- ity: If game designers turn more and more to the safe path, how does the gaming medium advance as an art form? Sakagami’s answer is that it does- n't—and apparently, it shouldn't. “1 don't think people necessarily want something new,” he tells us. “Games are entertainment, just like movies and TV shows, and known brands and franchise titles and characters provide customers with comfort and trust.” Neil Young, general manager of EA's Maxis studio—currently working on revamping the best-selling game of all time with The Urbz: Sims in the City—fervently disagrees. “Ultimately, if we want to keep our medium fresh, we need to invent,” he says. "We're so early in the life cycle of games as an entertainment medium, it’s really far too early to give up on this in favor of safety.” Nobuya Nakazato, producer of Konami's Neo Contra, expresses a simi- lar sentiment. “The recent trend in the game industry to develop more mainstream titles [means that] developers go to great lengths to secure new audiences by creating very ‘light’ games,” he says. “Detailed ‘heavy’ games that appeal to the hardcore gamers are made less [frequently]. But without the support of these hardcore gamers, there is no bright future for our industry.” 40 [OPM September 2004] Final Fantasy games have been quite dif- ferent from one another throughout the years, but one thing has stayed constant: random bat- tles. From finding one tiny strip of peninsula in FFI, which would have you fight ogres again and again, to randomly encountering fools in FFX-2, the random battle has been a steady constant for the franchise. So, the craziest change that FFXII has brought to the table so far? No more random battles. Exploration smoothly segues into combat. Even the recent Star Ocean, which lets you see enemies on the field before engaging them, still had the “screen blurs or shatters as the combat map is loaded up” presentation. In FFXII, you see an enemy and can then walk up to it and issue orders to attack, with no weird effects or load screens interrupting you. Combat works as follows: Locate an enemy. Bring up a character menu and issue an attack command; you'll see a blue line going from your character to his or her target (a red line indicates who the enemy is targeting). You can issue a Sim= ple All Attack command, which tells everyone to simply hit the enemy, or fine-tune your combat by issuing different orders. Range, terrain, height, and Weaponsiare.all factored in figuring out how well the characters attack; once given a command, they do that command repeatedly until told other- wise. Also, the whole time this is happening, you can either issue commands in real time.or have the battle paused when you do so. The overhauled combat is a huge step for the FF franchise, and We can’t wait to see what else’ FFXII shakes up. Pub. Square Enix Dev. Square Enix =: Eaely2005 The trouble is, while the hardcore gamers may drive innovation, sales numbers tend to indicate that they don’t drive sales. Could Sakagami be right about gamers wanting nothing but “comfort and trust"? Brian Fargo, CEO of InXile Entertainment, whose Bard's Tale presents a seriously differ- ent interpretation of a venerable PC RPG franchise, hopes not. "Obviously, "IF WE WANT TO KEEP OUR MEDIUM FRESH, WE NEED TO INVENT.” it's frustrating to see a lousy game with a big license outsell something that is really innovative,” he says, “but that is the reality of selling to the mass consumer. We can only hope that consumers will recognize something fresh and that word will spread and we will continue to help push the industry.” It seems to us that there should be a happy medium between the art and the monetary bottom line. Midway's Allison agrees, saying, "There's no rea- son a game can't be an original, creative, AAA-quality game but still contain elements that make it relevant to a large audience." 1 2 9‹ ‚е ofiginal Area 51 was a light-gun game with digitized graphics per moving scenery, unlike other light-gun games, which had fixed viewpoints. Shortly after, Midway ported the game to PSI. Now, for the PS2 generation, we get an FPS decked out with all sorts of graphical goodness. Those digitized graphics are a far cry from the detailed texture maps that adorn both the characters and the rooms they're in. Since it's an FPS, you're no longer relegated to being locked to a STARR agent's path. While the light-gun version had you shooting aliens and zombies as part of the STARR team, the new update puts you in a hazmat team sent in to clean up Area 51. Also, you have to deal not only with aliens and fellow hazmat/special forces troops, but also with your own mutant powers, since you get bitten by the alien hybrids at one point and gain mutant powers. The developers kept the basic concept of "shoot aliens in Area 5l" the same, but rc published way back in 1987 by Electronic Arts, is consideren one of the games that shaped the future of the modern RPG. Aside from its genre-defining gameplay, it was notable for its sense of humor, color graphics, and monsters, which were actually animated. The new game is produced by Brian Fargo, the man behind the original. Like the version released 17 years ago, Fargo’s new creation will also feature color graphics and animated monsters, thanks to the technical trickery of Snowblind's familiar Champions of Norrath engine. Humor also plays a big part, with the script consciously mocking just about every RPG convention you can think of. The star of the game is the definition of “reluctant hero” and would seem to be far more interested in hoarding cash and ogling boobs than he is in performing anything remotely noble. After playing the first dun- geon ourselves, we're happy to report that the result is something very rare they've expanded it into a solid-looking shooter. b. Midway Dev. Inevitable Release October F 2 еѕ were pretty light on story and took HE in the modern days, when our troops spent a lot of time over in Bagh- dad. They were decent squad-based shooters loaded with brown textures mapped over random hills. But decent doesn’t really cut it when you have titles like SOCOM around to demonstrate how squad-based tactical shooters should be done. Conflict: Vietnam does a total 180 on the series by putting it 30 years in the past and in a differ- ent set of terrain altogether. The game is set in the jungles of Vietnam (along with a whole lot of other upcoming action games); plus, it has an actual story this time. Rather than take nigh- anonymous soldiers through loosely connected missions, you take part in an actual story that spans four days in the Vietnam War. Adding to the story component are the RPG elements, which let you assign points to your soldiers’ skills at the end of every mission. Vietnam both refines and expands the core Conflict franchise. Pub. Gathering Dev. SCi Release Fall on PS2: a game that's actually funny. ib. InXile Entertainment De VARC in the arcade was kind of like Jing out the Punisher's fantasies. Armed with body armor, a submachine gun, and a rocket launcher that was certainly not standard issue, players guided digital DEA agents as they cleaned up the streets. It was so prototypically violent, absurd, and mindless that it had a minor guest role in Terminator 2 of all places and featured a boss fight with a huge head. This new incarnation is a loose adaptation of the arcade original, since you're still playing as Hitman or Max Force while trying to take down Mr. Big. The biggest controversy is the whole “drug taking” aspect, which lets you actually take drugs for short-term boosts—except doing so will screw with your health and police rating. Game- playwise, NARC is no longer a straightforward shooter; you actually get called on specific mis- sions via a police radio. In between missions, the game is a bit free-form, as you can roam the streets and partake in the war on drugs. Midway Dev. Vis Release February 2005 v. InXile Entertainment Relea е November Ir е from The Legend of Zelda were a eni. blue-haired anime kid, and you loosely have what became Brave Fencer Musashi. While this was a fun little action-RPG in its own right, people tend to remember it more for being packaged with the Final Fantasy VIII demo (much as how Zone of the Enders was known as the game that the MGS2 demo was bundled with). So it's a bit surprising to see another Musashi game six years later. Since Musashi himself has been designed by Tetsuya Nomura this time, he looks a lot more belt-buckled and slicker than his original 1998 self. The new game is still an action-RPG, but with some quirky additions, such as a carrying system (Musashi literally hauls a princess or two away from danger) and the mikiri system, through which you steal moves from your enemies. Adding to its quirki- ness is the “manga shader,” Squenix’s version of cel shading, which makes Musashi look all the more colorful and animated. Winter 2004 ib. Square Enix Dev. Square Enix R FAMOUS FRANCHISES WE'D LIKE TO SEE REMIXED 5. BurgerTime [www.1UP.com] D METAL GEAR ACID We get to drop a PSP game into an otherwise PS2- dominated preview feature. Although not much has been revealed about Acid so far, we can tell you that it’s not a remake of a previous Metal Gear (contrary to early Twin Snakes-style rumors), it’s not really a sequel either, and it’s not an action game. Kojima told us at E3 that he didn’t feel the PSP was particularly suited to frenetic 3D gunplay, so he chose to produce some- thing a little more sedate. The result is a turn-based strategy game that we shall henceforth lazily refer to as being “a bit like Final Fantasy Tactics.” Obviously, on the surface, it's not really that much like FFT, seeing that it's all 3D and stuff, but underneath the gloss, you are essentially taking Snake (circa bandana and spiky hair) through a turn-based mission and making tactical mission choices rather than simply pulling out your FAMAS and pop- ping caps in asses. As is the fashion in handheld games lately, there's also a card-based play dynamic, so it’s a little bit Yu-Gi-Oh! for good measure. CHAMPIONS: RETURN TO ARMS EverQuest for the PC was introduced to the world and redefined the nature of massively multiplayer games. Last year, developer Snowblind took the EverQuest roots and transported them to a hack-n-slash setting with Champions of Norrath. Now, the sequel promises even more RPG goodness, thanks to the addition of some new features. One new feature is player-versus-player battles, in which up to four play- ers can duel it out for supremacy. Another mode pairs players together: Starting at level 1 with no weapons, armor, or potions, you see how long you can last against a series of monsters. Also new are minigames called “medal rounds.” We got to play a medal round that charged us with safeguarding carts full of gunpowder from being blown up by packs of kobolds by throw- ing explosive potions at them, in order to keep more than two at a time from getting to any cart. The team hopes these options will offer quality play for people who may have only 10 or 15 minutes to spend with the game. Konami Konami a March 2005 3. Mortal Kombat: ial Forces GE. E MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTION when arcades were still popu- lated with human beings, Mortal Kombat's digi- tized characters and generous amounts of gore drew plenty of crowds. But with each successive release, fewer people paid attention. With the release of Mortal Kombat IV, it looked like the end of the line for Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and the rest of the MK crew. Then came Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, which reinvigorated the franchise with fluid mechanics and over-the-top MK violence. The newest game, Deception, will improve upon many of the features introduced in Deadly Alliance and bring back some old favorites, such as level-specific fatalities and a revamped Kon- quest mode that offers more freedom than its previous incarnation. Plenty of brand-new fea- tures include Puzzle Kombat, the Mortal Kombat take on Puzzle Fighter, and a version of chess fea- turing the MK cast. These new options are almost like a special "thank you" from Midway to those who stuck with the series over the years. Ef А, B. беи 5. BMX XXX Midway Dev. Midway October 42 [ОРМ September 2004] Sony Online Entertainment GOLDENEYE: ROGUE AGENT GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64 was a great first-person shooter—it's been said only about 8 bajillion times. But it was deserving of the praise. It offered a perfect mix of intense shootouts, puzzle solving, and some great multiplayer features. It's a mystery that no one jumped on the idea sooner, but EA Games hopes that GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, the spiritual sequel to Rare's defin- ing work, will be worth the wait. If anything, it offers a unique glimpse into the James Bond uni- verse, giving you a chance to be an evildoer—with a cybernetic eye implant, no less (a...golden...eye). All of the environments in the game are faithfully re-created from various Bond movies, and the game includes a who's who of Bond villains, from Oddjob to Xenia Onatopp. Plus, top Hollywood talent is handling many of the visual aspects of the game. We can only hope both the multiplayer (one of the original's shining moments) and single player live up to the game's name. November EA Games EALA ‘Snowblind Studios February 2005 NINA WINSI DEATH BY DEGREES of quarters you used to spend in your quest to challenge the reigning Tekken master at the local arcade? Or the verbal slap fights about Tekken versus Virtua Fighter? No? OK, then you're a lot younger than we are. Now, original Tekken fighter Nina is getting ported off to her own game, Death by Degrees. Instead of the one-on-one combat she’s grown up with, this time she’s a spy who's been charged with tracking down a supersecret fancy weapon. The game features a 360-degree combat system via the right analog stick (à la Rise to Honor), and Nina will alternate among using stealth as she explores areas, utilizing weapons to combat ene- mies, and fighting off her opponents with some of her signature Tekken moves. Nina fans will be thrilled that there are skimpy costumes and crotch shots galore, although they may find the game- play a little lacking. Our time with the game left us a bit unimpressed, but hopefully the final prod- uct will be better than what we've seen so far. October Namco Namco discovery. A catastrophe of Supernatural proportions. ‘only in his paranormal abilities a phenomenal array of weapons, Lazarus Jones is outi capture hordes of tortured souls who seek. vengeance on the worl af te Jing Visit www.esrb.org | for updated rating information. i Europe, Al righ reserved. De SCEE Cambridge Sidi. Published by Namco Hometek ino. under селе om PlayStation" and the "PS" Family ony Computer Entertainment ic. The ratings joan s а registered trademark ofthe Entertainment Software Assocation. AIl ӨМ! operis of their respective overs, Ф HYPE 44 [OPM September 2004] LEVEL 1 The original Prince of Per- sia (top) may not look like much these days, but trust us—it was totally mind- blowing at the time. B released on the Apple Il in 1989, was an innovative plat- form game with awesome animation. Last year's remake was...er...an innovative platform game with awesome animation. For the next game in the series, which is still unnamed as we go to press, the development team at Ubisoft is focusing on making it darker, moodier, and more action packed. If you thought the fighting system in The Sands of Time was a little lack- ing, you'll be pleased to learn that POP2 boasts an elaborate branching combo system that makes fighting feel more natural and less like a handful of potted moves. Particular sequences of moves will open up new opportunities and require a steadier, more-considered approach to fighting rather than the rapid button mangling of the last game. This is an interesting direction for the fran- chise to take, since the original and its notori- ously difficult sequel, Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flare, released in 1995, were more about avoiding traps and solving puzzles than they were about kicking ass. Check back next month, when we'll have an exclusive hands-on look at this new chapter. Ubisoft. Ubisoft November a nolia Ave. e. Sprin ville ew Jersey 01102 g , N M g - 814104 player 8/1/04 ice. won world series tW - 8/6/04 ispose ate First (ed as Guadalcanal. Dispos y a 7 ti Alien Menace b = hed 5 pL0CKBUSTEÊ Crus Gove) GET A KILLER RESUME WITH UNLIMITED GAMING FOR ONLY °19°° A MONTH. А ch Sg ee N Ea UI M THE BLOCKBUSTER GAME PASS". Play as many games as you | $500 OFF want for as long as you want. Choose from our huge selection of = = х= YOUR FIRST MONTH. games. Game all month for less than half the price of most new games. ese г 1 е ur first month's membership fee MORE GAMING. MORE SAVINGS. : со E Sut Cpr БРИ may s LO Gane Pas E dit card or check card required. Game Pass membership 5610FN00014 I FP ilum о E SUR 400 EE D ШЕЛЇЇ logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Ratings provided by Entertainment Software Rating Board. For more information visit www.esrb.org. BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster Inc. геше apo |cipating BLOCKBUSTER? stores. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. © 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Playstation and DS r Inc. All rights reserved. [E] Content suitable for persons age 6 and older. [T] Content suitable for persons age 13 and older. [V] Content suitable for persons age 17 and older. LEISURE SUIT LARRY: MAGNA CUM LAUDE | school adv game dead? Well...yeah...it pretty much is. But v we're happy to see that Vivendi Universal is overlooking this fact to res- urrect—at least sort of—one of the genre’s most beloved characters. Now old and graying, Larry Laffer leaves his legacy to his nephew Larry Lovage, now in his sixth year of college, in Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. Uncle Larry's time in the limelight included six Larry games for the PC. The first game featured 16-color graphics and involved actually typing in commands. By 1997, Laffer's final appearance (Love for Sail!, pictured) looked more like a cartoon and was all point and click. But one theme remained constant: trying to score with chicks (and usually striking out). Magna continues the tradition with 3D graphics and console-friendly gameplay. It's very simple gameplay—basically just a series of minigames— so the game depends largely on its humor. This begs another question: Is Magna funny enough to hold your interest? So far, the answer is yes. THE URBZ: SIMS IN THE CITY ) an effective gateway drug to the world of games for women and girls the world over, eventually becoming the No. 1-selling game franchise of all time. So it seems only natural that the fran- chise would reinvent itself in an attempt at capturing the coveted 16-to-35- year-old male gaming demographic. After all, they buy games and love hip- hop—so a game combining the two should be a license to print money, no? While the gameplay and interface are similar to those in The Sims, The Urbz ditches the calm suburban existence and moves to the city. Rather than spending your days doing the dishes, watering the plants, and making nice with the wife, you'll be getting tattoos, hustling for your boss at the chop shop, and hitting the clubs. Each Urb's primary goal will be to further his rep—the better your rep, the more access you'll have to the most exclusive places and people. We'll have to wait and see if The Urbz is anything more than gold plating on the same old gameplay. ub. Vivendi Universal Dev. High Voltage Release October hough i ] are poor in comparison to today's fighters, Sega's Virtua Fighter was at the forefront of the 3D revolution. Its use of polygons and slick animation would be used as blueprints for almost every 3D fighter to follow. And the series only got better with each release. Virtua Fighter 2 was widely regarded not only as the best fighting game at the time, but also the most technically impressive. Even now, Virtua Fighter 4 remains as one of the top 3D fighters on PlayStation 2, which is no small feat. But instead of giving us Virtua Fighter 5, Sega’s opted to Pokémon-ify the Virtua Fighter universe with Virtua Quest. The reason we use the p word is because the main character in the game, Sei, basically has to obtain the powers of the Virtua Fighter characters by obtaining Virtua Souls. It sounds a little virtua nutty, but think of it as a slightly toned-down version of a Virtua Fighter fighting game that has more in common with an action-RPG than anything else. Sega Dev. Sega Fall 46 [OPM September 2004] EA Games EA Maxis 300 TOTAL COST 1300 || Her DYNASTY WARRIORS 7 EMPIRES there are too many Dynasty War- riors games, you're not alone—Empires marks the series' sixth appearance (and that's not including the very similar Samurai Warriors) on a PS2 con- sole that still isn't quite 4 years old. So by now you probably have a good idea of what the War- riors franchise is all about—and that'd be massive battles set in Three Kingdoms-era China in which you control one warrior on a field of thousands. Truth be told, that's still the majority of what you'll find in Empires. However, Koei is also imple- menting some real strategy into the game. After you've chosen your kingdom, you spend quite a bit of time navigating menus and looking at a map, where your goal is to conquer all of China. Beyond selecting which area to take over next, you also have to decide things like whether to form alliances or if it's worth your gold to recruit a beaten general into your army. This isn't Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it certainly adds a welcome sense of depth. Koei Dev. Koei September ODDWORLD: STRANGER are sewn shut and who goes around farting and shrugging is an unlikely mascot. Yet Abe’s quirky charm and quest to free the mudokons from being turned into food in Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee captured gamers looking for something different than the usual run-and-gun affair. A couple of games later in Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Oddworld wel- comed Munch, Abe's wheelchair-bound buddy who helped Abe fight the glukkons. Now, Oddworld: Stranger appears to be a far cry from Abe's puzzles and farts and Munch's speedy wheels. We say "appears to be" because Oddworld Inhabitants is still keeping mum on most of the details. All that creator Lorne Lanning will reveal at this point is that Stranger is a badass bounty hunter who makes his way across the Oddworld universe taking down criminals. While Stranger will be a more action-oriented game, Lanning promises that the trademark Odd- world wit will be present. EAGames Oddworld Inhabitants CONTRA Side-scrolling run-and-gun action with a mixture of vertical shooting is almost as much a trademark of the Contra series as the Konami code, and if you don’t know what that is, then shame on you. Almost every single Contra game has relied on the formula introduced in the NES classic except for Contra: Legacy of War, which used а top-down perspective but was so incredi- bly bad that it’s best forgotten. So it's somewhat surprising that Konami has gone back to that perspective with Neo Contra, but don't think it won't pack any less of a punch because of that. There's still plenty of action to be had thanks to a good assortment of weapons (including the spread weapon that was so desper- ately missing from the previous Contra game), as wellas.some rather interesting enemy designs, such as a gigantic baby head that sprouts from the mouth of a fanged artichoke. And one of the playable characters is a samurai from the future! "til eiKonami 307. Konami 9155-5 November nal Contrais ane t side-scrolling shooters to ever hit the «© arcades. Тоо bad previou: fevamps have flopped! Young concurs. “You can still invent within the framework of preexisting long term, | do think it pays off." franchises," he says. "Not because it's commercially safer, but because it "|t either works or it doesn’t,” agrees Allison, "but it's something every allows you to focus on the invention that will truly move the medium instead publisher is smart to attempt to do. For example, Pitfall was a huge brand of having to re-create the same old things again just to get to the starting 20 years ago, but it has never found a large new audience as a reinvented point of innovation." In other words, using an established franchise for a title. But it was worth the shot for Acti У jumping-off point allows for more creativity, since the designers don’t need “This is a tough road to go down,” cautions John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, which recently gave its EverQuest brand a dras- tic retooling with Champions of Norrath. “If you make a mistake, it can dam- т age a franchise їп a major way. To me, the only way this makes sense is if FRANCHISES ARE NOT THE UNIQUE you feel the game can stand by itself and doesn't need any marketing hooks. The road to hell is paved with examples of people pushing a franchise too KEY TO SUCCESS. far.” We can think of a few examples. InXile’s Fargo is similarly ambivalent about rehashing franchises. “A char- acter can only endure by being unique,” he says, “and by not being driven into the ground by marketing folks. There have been some great game char- acters over the years that | have seen beaten into submission by a quick suc- cession of lame sequels, only to have their coolness destroyed.” So, in order for a game to succeed, it has to be familiar but not too famil- iar—innovative but not too innovative. It’s a very fine line to walk. Doubtless, to spend as much time on backstory—or on building the basic technology. some of the games you see in these pages will make the most of their famil- But how do designers find this delicate balance of familiarity and invention? іаг backgrounds and go on to widespread success. Doubtless, others will “| don’t think there is a unique recipe,” Yannis Mallat, the producer who prove too unusual for the average consumer...or too similar to their prede- brought Prince of Persia into stunningly gorgeous 3D with The Sands of cessors to be worth the bother. One thing is certain: The trend of revisiting Time, tells us. “Franchises are not the unique key to success. Franchises are franchises is not likely to go away anytime soon, not as long as there are worth it only if you try hard to make each sequel unique by providing new classic franchises to exhume. As Mallat says, “There are plenty of games emotions, new gameplay, and new challenges. | just think you need to try to that are waiting in the cupboards. If you are a very creative team, you may keep being innovative. This is challenging; there might be failures. But in the ^ find the recipe to bring them back to life—but it’s not an easy tasl [www.lUP.com] 47 ^ BETAHINVS PLAN THE ULTIMATE VACTATION, AND VISIT THE 10 WORLDS OF STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT Life got you down? Ever wish you could get away? There's no place bet- ter than a long time ago їп а galaxy far, far away. From great camping on Endor to the divine skiing of Rhen Var, Galactic Getaways has the perfect solution. RUGGED GEONOSIS All the way at the Outer Rim lies Geonosis, with scenery so amazing you'd think only a com- puter could generate it. Majestic red-hued mesas and buttes decorate the topography, while long stretches of parched desert hardpan appear in just the right places so as not to spoil you with continuous eye candy. Recent develop- ments suggest a remarkably healthy local econ- omy due to increased industrial activity. Be sure to pack bug spray, in case you run into the natives. We heartily suggest chartering a Republic attack gunship for this area. 48 [OPM September 2004] 4 Dern CLOUD CITY Ever feel like your head is in the clouds? Well, it should be! Baron Administrator Lando Calriss- ian humbly invites you to Cloud City, a won- drous colony floating above the gas giant Bespin. Gaze into the beautifully colored heav- ens or take on the galaxy's best sabacc players in a first-class casino. And for those of you looking to keep a, shall we say, “low profile,” rest assured that Mr. Calrissian has just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here for- ever. Also, pay no mind to the sculpture shaped like a man trapped in carbonite. LUSH ENDOR Tucked away in the galaxy's uncharted territory, the forest moon of Endor provides the ideal escape for your inner outdoorsman. Humon- gous trees tower hundreds of meters above you, and wildlife abounds in the verdant envi- ronment. Barring a climactic battle between the Galactic Empire and the Rebellion, you'll learn soon enough why Endor is also known as the Sanctuary Moon. Do beware of traps set by primitive savages known as Ewoks, however. If one should approach, simply shoot the animal in the head and enjoy the rest of your stay. AQUATIC KAMINO Deep-sea fishermen will find no more desirable location than Kamino, a planet whose stilt- mounted cities were constructed atop its com- pletely aquatic surface. When you're not on the water, enjoy your stay in hospitable Tipoca City. Thanks to its galactically renowned cloning facility, jetpack-using travelers who accidentally fall into the water and die can come right back in an instant. But please, don’t forget to pack a good umbrella, for rain has been known to fall from time to time. A little Dramamine wouldn't hurt, either. SUNNY TATOOINE Every planet has its awesome sunrises. But only Tatooine has two per day as its twin suns dispel the cool, crisp desert night. Some might not like the sand, since it’s coarse, rough, irritating, and gets everywhere—but only the more detestable folks of the galaxy feel this way. Good people such as yourself want to see as much sand as you can, from Beggar's Canyon to the Jundland Wastes. Be sure to brush up on your Huttese; you never know whom you might run into (if you run into "native" Tusken raiders, you're certainly allowed to take a shot). ADVENTUROUS HOTH Landscapes of constant snow and ice may sound like turnoffs to normal people, but we know you're so much more than a normal per- son, aren't you? Besides, where else can you go tauntaun-back riding? (Lessons unavailable at this time.) You might even see other indige- nous wildlife, like the wampa ice creature—just make sure you keep your distance, especially during breeding season. And we must insist that you make it inside before sundown. We wouldn't want a good customer like you to die on us. ac Er SACRED RHEN VAR Some have referred to Rhen Var as a “frozen wasteland.” Blasphemers. If an atmospheric cataclysm hadn't permanently disrupted the planet's ecosystem thousands of years ago, we'd still be able to see the ancient Jedi monu- ments that once permeated a fertile paradise. Now, the planet lies in the midst of an ice age, but devout followers of the Force such as your- self will have no trouble seeing the allure of icy plains, brutal tundra, and glacier-carved moun- tains. This clean scenery is also good for calm- ing trots in your AT-ST. SCENIC NABOO Rolling plains, green hills, picturesque water- falls, and distinct architecture compose Naboo, truly one of the galaxy’s most wondrous plan- ets. We recommend staying in Theed, the capi- tal city, known for its remarkable royal palace and sublime canals. You could even hop aboard a historic Trade Federation armored assault tank for an armed tour of the city. In your spare time, you might choose to take a bongo under- water to see the bubblelike settlements of the Gungans. Don't get too close, though. They'sa no like visitors. CHECK OUT OUR DVD NEXT MONTH! We'll have a playable demo of Endor from Star Wars Battlefront for you. Originally settled by Sith Lord Naga Sadow and his followers, the generations to follow would evolve into the Massassi race. No one knows what happened to the legendary warriors, but their impressively huge temples remain scat- tered throughout the jungle-ridden moon to this day. An absolute must-see, the Great Tem- ple sits at the crest of a prodigious hill; the structure's size and location make it the perfect base for any type of army in need, especially a rebellious one. The lush foliage is also con- ducive to exciting speeder bike races. TOP-SECRET LOCATION Our tour guide, LucasArts, has another possi- ble destination in store for you—one that it won't even tell us about at this time (though we did notice a LucasArts employee checking out a history disc entitled Knights of the Old Republic). But we're certain that this top-secret escape location is absolutely fabulous—after all, as a destination from Galactic Getaways, there's no way it can't be. Watch for future brochures; we may even reveal LucasArts" other battlefield—er, we mean pleasurable vacation spot. [www.IUP.com] 49 50 [OPM September 2004] А Д wa А е l TALENT WITH ENT OBJECTS.” SHE'S GOT THE MOVES Sienna Guillory took her preparations for becoming Jill Valentine seriously, as she demonstrated when we visited the set. Not only did she claim to have played Resident Evil 3extensively— "It's hard!” she says—she also made it a point to nail every one of Jill's animations, from how she draws a gun to the way she looks when she interacts with others. “She does this little arm thing,” Guillory tells us, totally actualizing the RE3 screenshot to the left, “and she’s like, ‘Car- los..." And then there's this other thing with her hand to the side,” she says of Jill’s idle animation. “I’ve been working on that wiggle thing.” Alice (Milla Jovovich) looks absolutely pissed. You would be, too, if your only reward for narrowly escaping droves of undead monsters in the Umbrella Corporation's underground hive was to awaken and find yourself the object of some sort of experiment. Next thing you know, you've escaped to what you're expect- ing to be the refuge of a peaceful Midwestern town called Raccoon City—only now it looks more like the aftermath of a war zone. Yeah, odds are you'd wanna kick some ass like Alice does. And fortunately for us movie- goers, it looks like she'll be doing plenty of that in Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: Apocalypse. “Alice has emerged as a much more deci- sive character," says Jovovich. "She has also become an experiment of the Umbrella Corpo- ration—a guinea pig in a sense—infected with the T-Virus. All she knows is that through this experiment, Umbrella has unwittingly given her a weapon that can take them on, and. she's going to use it.” Jovovich spent four tough months preparing for the demanding role—everything from weapons training to studying a Brazilian martial art known as Capoeira. “1 definitely have a talent with vio- lent objects," jokes the actress. Jovovich's dedication enabled the filmmak- ers to go well beyond their original plans for Alice's action sequences. Whether she's reen- acting the unforgettable opening cut-scene to Code: Veronica X or running 20 feet straight down a building, Jovovich excels in her role— she's essentially a superhero in a cute skirt. Stunt coordinator Steve Lucescu was particu- larly impressed with Jovovich's abilities. “The most elaborate fight scene is between Alice and Nemesis,” he explains. “It started with 30 or 40 moves, but then Milla really got into it, and it became 180 moves.” Did someone say Nemesis? You bet. Unlike the first Resident Evil, which served as a pre- quel to all the madness to ensue in games to come, Apocalypse actually incorporates some events from Resident Evil 2 and most of the action from Resident Evil 3. With the territory comes characters such as Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr, The. Mummy) and fanboy favorite Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory, Helen in USA’s Helen of Troy), both of whom meet up with Alice as they try to survive Umbrella's threat in a quarantined Raccoon City. “My first reaction [to seeing the character in the game] was, ‘Whoa, check out the bumps!’” laughs Guillory (herself rather “Битру”). “Jill's got everything a girl wants— she dresses to kill, says whatever she wants, and can shoot anyone between the eyes within a 50-yard radius. She's hard as nails and she's great fun. And not at all afraid of being quite the sexy minx." Writer/producer Paul W.S. Anderson cer- tainly approves of his cast, but he's chosen to remove himself from the director's chair this time, and has hand-chosen Alexander Witt, who makes his directorial debut. Anderson, who brought Mortal Kombat to the big screen in 1995, is still actively involved, however, because, as producer Jeremy Bolt tells us, “He doesn't want to see another Mortal Kombat: Annihilation." Good move, Paul. Does that mean Apocalypse is actually a good movie, though? We'll find out come the weekend of September 10. = * Blood Violence PlayStation.2 C fai Me tale of survival й finally fof) it will be writen in pools of blood 52 [OPM September 2004] Г. р FIVE THINGS YOU DIDN'T, Ки ABOUT FORGOTTEN REALMS? In all of its 30 years, Dungeons & Dragons has never really been the most action-packed pastime. The pen-and- paper RPG—the original RPG—has always been more about, well, roleplaying than hack-n-slash action. And of all the videogames based on the series, only a small handful have had any real excitement to them, most notably the console iterations of the Baldur's Gate series (also set in the Forgotten Realms universe, incidentally). So, it's exciting to see an action-packed free-roaming fighting game with an epic cinematic style that still manages to remain true to its roots. While the heat of battle is a visceral, arcadey experience, once you finish a level, it's time to upgrade your char- acters in true D&D fashion. You'll purchase new armor and weapons, as well as upgrade each of the three playable character's abilities, with every item and upgrade drawn straight from the Forgotten Realms sourcebooks. Even better, your weapon and armor choices are instantly reflected in your characters; each character has at least five complete costume changes that will show their progress in a very noticeable way. You'll even be able to preview your purchases—from a new robe for the sorcerer to a new combo for the fighter— before you buy. If you don't want to micromanage your purchases and upgrades after every level, you don't have to. Just choose the "auto-buy" option and the game will intelligently select the best choices for you, leaving you free to dive into the next level instantly. The character of Khelben “Black- staff" Arunsun—a vastly experienced wizard who also serves as the game's narrator—is voiced by Patrick "Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enter- prise" Stewart. His nemesis, the Slaad Lord Ygorl, is played by the inhumanly huge Michael Clarke Duncan. And the game's story was written by RA Salvatore, the most prolific and beloved writer to work in the Forgotten Realms universe and creator of the ridiculously popular dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. As if that weren't enough, Robert Goodman, an Emmy Award-winning writer for Batman Beyond, has been contracted specifically to work on the game's dialogue. So, yeah, they're serious about the game; as Don Daglow, presi- dent and CEO of developer Stormfront, says, "If you want a great story in a storytelling game, get good writers." Forgotten Realms fans will be pleased to learn that a sequence set in Mithral Hall has you taking on the role of Salva- tore's überfamous dark elf as he helps our heroes defend his home from invading trolls. THREE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT STORMFRONT 2 ils The studio has been mak- ing Forgotten Realms games for 13 years. In fact, Stormfront was responsible for the very first massively multiplayer RPG, 19915 Neverwinter Nights (not to. be confused with the 2002 BioWare game of the same name), which ran as part of the AOL service from 1991 01997. The same engine has been in use for more than six years. || made its first ‘appearance long before The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers—in the ill-fated RPG The Legend of Alon Dar. Since then, it's under- gone countless revisions (to the tune of around $6 mil- lion) to produce the slick scenes you see here. Stormfront actively seeks diversity in its creative teams, and all of its current project leads are women. This, sadly, is still quite unusual. Industry veteran Alyssa Finley (who also worked on The Two Towers) is overseeing Demon Stone, CHECK OUT OUR DVD NEXT MONTH! We'll have an awesome playable demo of Demon Stone for you. [www.IUP.com] 53 NHL 2005 Pub. Dev. Release NHL FACEOFF 2005 TOP FEATURE CUT FROM 2005 GAMES The Todd Bertuzzi neck- 5 g breaking, hospitalizing, nte p Е lb | : an career-threatening, “sucker- is franchis me i а е online punch” button. | 1 ight, yc I ] [ | are in a SEL &' EN . PlayStation.e Entertainment Inc. Software Association. БУР — TURE Blood and Gore Intense Violence Siren 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS' Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Comput The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertai CON er rp = SARs » All vehicles in Mercenaries are fair game, including helicopters. Right now this one is piloted by bad guys intent on blowing the crap out of you. You can choose to respond by shooting it down, or if you're feeling more adventurous, you can hijack it. How. do you do that? Wait for it to-fly.réally close and jump up, action hero style, to grab onto it. Pull yourself into the cockpit, throw out the pilot, and then enjoy the ride! You need to be paying attention to this М game. It may not be a sequel, and it may not boast an urban lifestyle theme, but it may be one of the most exciting new franchises on PS2 this year. Developer Pandemic is fast becoming, one of the groups to watch on consoles (the company was previously best-known for PC strategy games), and Mercenaries could well be its masterpiece. Pub. LucasArts Dev. Pandemic Release November 4r If you can see it, you can do something Wit: If we were going to get lazy about how we describe Mercenaries, we'd sa Was like Grand Theft Auto, only with mili- Мату vehicles. If you can make your way down to this car, you could either jump in and.drive around, or you could hop in the ck aridhuse the minigun to carve your through the bad guys. This is 25-year-old Jennifer Mui, one of the three mercenaries featured in the game. She's an ex-MI-6 agent trained in the U.K., and she specializes in Sam Fisher-style stealth missions. She speaks Chinese, which should prove to be quite useful. Her buddies (not shown here) are Matthias Nilsson, a Russian-speaking, ex-Swedish Coastal Ranger; and ex-Delta Force Yank Chris Jacobs. THE BEST GAME TH [OPM September 2004] While engaging in your pri shenanigans, you can hook up ian Mafia, or the Chinese. Each | organizations has its own motivation for — x5 needing your services, and the dynamic that the conflicting interests has on the Associate of Science & Eher 998007: According to Matthew Paul, the pro- » egre ducer of the game at Pandemic, "If you can E see it, you can use it, drive it, or destroy it. 3 In fact, you are running loose on a play- ground of destruction, and you have the ability to destroy every building and every object in the world with reckless abandon. To many, this is hours of fun in and of Ne itself.” Sure sounds pretty good to us. Real World Education school of Computer Animation Digital Media Entertainment Business Film Game Design & Development Every object in the game world is managed by a comprehensive physics engine which ensures that all objects react to one another. The crates you can see here Show Production & Touring are bouncing around (and will eventually smash) as a result of an explosion off- screen. If this tank were to be hit, its turret [51010] ^ 226 a 7 62 5 would fly off, and the resulting explosion would take out other nearby vehicles, too. 3300 University Boulevard Winter Park, FL 32792 Financial aid available to those who qualify Job ріасете ce Acc Ф HYPE CELEBRITIES FLOCK TO THE PLAYSTATION 2 ESTATE Yes, there’s a PlayStation 2 estate. Yes, it’s quite large—about 12,500 square feet on six acres. And yes, it’s in the Hamptons, the perfect setting for an annual gathering of people who already live in enormous man- sions but feel like spending the weekend at a different enormous mansion just because they can. To help pamper guests, a PlayStation 2 (as well as high-priced furniture) was included in each attendee’s private room. Among the celebrities showing up at the event were Paris Hilton, who was promot- ing her new record label and playing Ratchet & Clank with flavor of the week Nick Carter. Rapper Jay-Z also joined the party to show off a new model of tennis shoe he is launching with Reebok. But there was a worthy cause underneath the explicit display of wealth. Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, who showed up with an original copy of the Decla- ration of Independence, used the annual “White Party” event to help pro- mote Citizen Change, an organization that encourages youths and minorities to vote, particularly in the upcoming presidential election. Def Jam founder Russell Simmons, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and Lennox Lewis all made an appearance to show support. 58 [OPM September 2004] Clockwise from top: Paris Hilton and Nick Carter lock lips; Jay-Z looks confused; Russell Simmons and Al Sharpton are unimpressed by P. Diddy; the PlaySta- tion 2 estate. WHY IS RIDICULOUS HEADWEAR CONSIDERED FUTURISTIC? re X BX м | 4 iN 4 ALL THE PLAYSTATION RUMORS THAT ARE FIT TO PRINT EVEN MORE SPIDER-MAN If the slightly above-average experience of playing Spider-Man 2 has you jonesing for more, rest assured that there’s plenty of web- slinging in PlayStation's future. Although the inevitable movie and game double whammy for Spider-Man 3 isn't expected until May 2007, it should come as no surprise that our Sources say Activision is working on a non- movie-related Spidey game. We know next to nothing about it except that it's happening, but let's play the deduction game, shall we? First of all, the upcoming X-Men: Legends is based EXPECT A STREET SOCCER GAME SOON. QUICK ais We hear that a sequel to Psi-Ops is already in pre- production. The Gran Tur- ismo team 15 said to be work- ing on a nonrac- ing game. Smart money is ona possible sequel to Omega Boost. Nico, the sequel to Ico, will finally be confirmed at the Tokyo Game Show. Check on September 24. There's anew Onimusha game in the works for PSP. on Marvel's Ultimate line of comics (which, if you didn’t already know, revamps classic sto- ries by placing them in contemporary settings). And here's something else to consider: Big- time comics writer Brian Michael Bendis recently wrote on his website's message board that he's scripting a Marvel game. True, he might be helping Daredevil finally hit consoles, but our money's on his most popular title...which would be Ultimate Spider-Man. PORTABLE MANA A recruitment posting on the Square Enix web- site for a new Seiken Densetsu project has U.S. fans understandably aflutter about the possi- bility of a new Mana game in the coming year. The posting reveals that the game is unlikely to be another Game Boy product, and upon fur- ther investigation, it would appear that this could be the publisher's first flirtation with PSP. Although Square Enix has been unusually reluctant to commit to the handheld (outside of Advent Children), rumors have been rife for a while that the company is seriously looking into at least one game for the system in its first year of release. FANTASY MAY CRY Sticking with Square Enix, those FFVII-done- Devil May Cry-style rumors have surfaced again. It's hard to tell whether it's wishful thinking, confusion over the new Musashi title (dude with spiky hair and a big sword), or a good, old-fashioned leak from Square. As ever, designer Tetsuya Nomura is the focal point for all rumors, but then he would be, wouldn't he? We'll keep digging and keep you posted on this one. Cloud going medieval on bad-guy ass in a full-on action game would be very cool. YOU'RE SO FRICKIN’ STREET NBA Street proved so successful that the third installment is nearly upon us, and NFL Street did the business more than adequately for football (and there are rumors of a sequel already), so what's next? If the rumors are to be believed, we can expect EA Sports Big to bust out some kind of street soccer game, pos- sibly called FIFA Street, before next summer. We've also heard that a Street-ified version of Tiger Woods is being kicked around at EA, too, although we're not entirely sure how practical that would be. REZ TO MAKE A COMEBACK? We've lost count of the number of times we've heard people say, "Sega really messed up with Rez. It should have pressed more copies or something, 'cuz that game rocked." Rumor has it that the powers that be are seriously consid- ering doing one of two things, either T) reissu- ing the original game and distributing more than 27 copies, or 2) giving the green light to a full-on sequel that will be backed up with a more positive attitude. Perhaps we'll see both. Keep an eye on www.IUP.com for news on this. MONTHLY GRAN TURISMO RUMORS Last month, we mentioned that GT4 was expected to support, among other things, the EyeToy. Previously, we'd heard that this would be so you could put your face onto the driver that appears in each car model, but we've since learned that this is not the case. All drivers in the game will wear helmets, so what gives? What we hear now is that the EyeToy support may be specific to a limited-edition version of the game and that it may be used to unlock specific special features. Only four months before we find out for sure. «© DO WHAT LOVE BELONG A COLLINS COLLEGE A School of Design & Technology Game Design Animation VÎ UM OUR CHARA RTO li For more information call anytime: 1.888.356.7777 COLLINS MAIN · TEMPE, ARIZONA COLLINS WEST + PHOENIX, ARIZONA 4 HYPE inn 4 «===> "m 60 [OPM September 2004] Astro Boy sure has a full plate this fall. Not only is he starring in a new game coming out for PS2, but the revitalized Astro Boy series has been spotted on both the WB and Cartoon Network. And to top it all off, he’ Carnegie Mellon Univers eing inducted into y's Robot Hall of Fame on October 11 (alongside fellow robots C-3PO and Robby the Robot). Get a taste of the game on this month's demo disc, which gives you the chance to stretch your little rocket legs as everyone's favorite boy wonder. Rock on! МАМ ASTRO BOY SHOOTS FOR THE STARS J The demo-disc level starts out in the main square of Metro City, where Astro gets to battle some crazy purple bats (called "Bat-bots") and random purple dudes on hover-motorcycles (imaginatively titled "Motorcycle-bots"). Take out enemies by either punching them or by ripping up the lampposts (which handily stay lit even after being uprooted) and swinging them like baseball bats. Once all the opponents are charred to dust, head on up to the main hall and enter. В Hey look, kids! It's Dr. Tenma, Astro's nefari- ous creator! Hmmmmm...wonder what he has up his sleeve? Ah, but who cares right now—he's just given Astro his special laser-finger power, digibeam! And just in the nick of time, too, as a swarm of purple hornets is attacking. Fortu- nately, the digibeam seems to have an autoaim function built in, so just point in the general direction of the swarm and fire away. Be sure to keep an eye on the red bar meter, which meas- ures the amount of power left for the digibeam. While waiting for charge-ups, Astro can ricochet around the inside of the building courtesy of those nifty rocket boots. BÎ After defeating the purple hornets and laser- ing his way out of the building, Astro faces his toughest challenge yet: archenemy and brother robot Atlas, who has come “to destroy the pup- pets of the human race!” Apparently, Astro is one of these puppets, too, as Atlas begins attacking him immediately at the end of the cut-scene. Stun Atlas with the digibeam and then, while he’s recovering, get close enough to punch him. During meter charges, dodge Atlas’ punishing blue elec- tric blasts. < Pub. Sega Dev. Sonic Team Release August Part robot. Part kid. All action. Use Astro's Arm Cannon: Pack a 1,000,000 horsepower Blast enemies with Astro's to stop the Blue Knight. punch against Atlas. Digibeam Laser Finger. Cartoon Violence ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org Sega is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA and the Sega logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Corporation. © SONICTEAM/SEGA, 2004. © Hitmaker/SEGA, 2003. All rights reserved. www.sega.com. © 2004 Tezuka Productions/Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc. ASTRO BOY character and all related indicia: TM or & & © 2004 Tezuka Productions. All rights reserved. Distributed by Sony Pictures Television. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. TM, © and the Game Boy Advance logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. FROM THE LAND OF THE RISING FUN 62 [OPM September 2004] A lot of times, gamers mope about how the quirkiest games from across the Pacific stay there and have to be imported, which then gets into weird mod- ded or imported PS2 territory. Sometimes, though, companies take notice and bring their little cult games over to our side for proper release. | The most significant news is that the insanely | popular and simple Katamari Damacy is getting | a Stateside release this fall, courtesy of Namco. The four small kiosks demoing it at E3 were | immensely popular, and all the grassroots buzz | for it did the trick. The premise is simple: Create giant balls of “stuff” to convert to stars. Your | ball attracts nearby objects and grows in size, much like a snowball rolling downhill. Except the ball has stuff like, oh, trees, park benches, cars, and national landmarks within it. Any game in which a guy with a coffin strapped to his back is ordered to “Kick their asses!” is a good game to us! Gungrave: Overdose is headed our way to deliver more visceral anime action. While it’s no longer cel-shaded like the last game | was, Overdose features three playable charac- ters: Grave, Juji Kabane, and the best character ever, Rocket Billy RedCadillac, who uses a guitar as a weapon. Yes, he wails on his guitar to pro- duce bolts of electricity (we prefer to think of it as rock energy) that zap his foes. If you pop in our disc and check out our import extra Uoh, you'll probably be confused because most of the demo is the tutorial, which is entirely in Japanese. From what we can gather, you use L1 to lock onto a fish, Square to eat said fish, X to swim forward or jump, and Circle to hit things. At one point, you might be stuck on an unbreakable fishing line—just jump out of the water and hit Square to break free. Finally, swim around and smack other fish before trying to eat them. That's all we can figure out, folks. GAME IMPORT СЕТ! 1 | Hardcore strategy fans will appreciate Nippon | Ichi bringing over Phantom Brave. Disgaea and | La Pucelle were all fine and dandy, but Phantom | Brave is Nippon lchi's newest and most ambi- tious strategy-RPG. The game's odd yet innova- tive battle system depends on spirits possessing objects. Rather than having units enter battle, you have their spirits inhabit everyday objects scattered on the map—each spirit then takes on the properties of the object. So, you'd want a fighter to inhabit a rock for higher defense or a mage to inhabit a fish to gain water magic. You | can also actually pick up and use objects, so on every map, if you can see it, it's either a potential, item or a unit. It sounds totally weird and com- plicated, but it's pretty easy to play. Check out ын official review next month. For Japan-minded gamers living in Amer- ica, jealousy is a way of life. Week after week, enthusiast websites overflow with stories of games not coming for months—if ever. Sure, most decent games eventually cross the Pacific, but to the hardcore, the “experience” —the aura of software, boxes, manuals, and bonuses—is as important as the game itself. To gamers who covet what Japan has and they don’t, there is no holier grail than the limited edition, or LE. What's in a Japanese LE? Small figurines (usu- ally of cute female characters), art books, and CDs are all common. Other popular tchotchkes are sticker sheets, pen cases, key chains, cell-phone straps, inexpensive watches, and trading cards. A good LE is packed with cool extras that reflect the game and show that the developers THE VIEW FROM OVER THERE thought about the fans. The Rez LE included a trance vibrator, a T-shirt, vibrating headphones, a wristband, eye drops, and Rez bandages. Hideo Kojima is known for his lavish LEs; Zone of the Enders, for example, had a humongous 150-page art book, a 50-minute anime DVD, and the soundtrack CD. The Shin Megami Tensei: Noc- turne LE included an incense burner with multiple scents of colored incense—just the thing for sum- moning demons. Cool as they sound, the popularity of LEs has waned in recent years. Why? Most LEs are huge; some come in boxes nearly two feet long. Retail- ers hate how they clog up their limited shelf space, and gamers’ apartments have no place to store them. Also, almost all LEs eventually lose their value. An LE that a few short years ago sold new for $100 to $150 can now be had for $20 to $40. What sort of collector “invests” in that mar- ket? But the biggest problem is the LEs them- selves. Once publishers learned that Japanese otaku would shell out cash regardless of an LE's quality, they jacked up the price and skimped on the quality of the goods. Plenty of lousy $50 LEs have shipped with a polyester pouch, a 10-minute soundtrack disc, eight trading cards, and a poorly painted figurine. This "less for more" phenomenon has infected even top-tier games like Xenosaga. Though the LE for the first game is well respected and still valu- able, the Episode 2 LE is miserable. For ¥17,800 ($164), you get two KOS-MOS figures, a toy bike, and an art book. Since the game alone retails for ¥6,980 ($64), you're paying $100 for two figures, , THE IAS WANED. a vehicle, and a book. It doesn’t take a degree in mathology to figure out what Namco's up to. Worse, the figures are of astoundingly poor quality. Japanese gaming forums have exploded with Photoshops mocking the eerie, wild-eyed KOS-MOS. Broke fans aren't afraid to say exactly how they feel. One user speaks for many when he says, "It's garbage. It's industrial waste.” Ouch. So take heart, U.S. gamers. Sure, you may not get every LE that comes out in the Land of the Rising Sun. But you have something better: your money, and your pride. < [www.lUP.com] 63 LOVE ANIME? 64 [OPM September 2004] од, ANIMANIA FREDDIE MERCURY + ROBOTS + GORILLAS = GOOD, CLEAN ANIME FUN MOBILE SUIT UP The long layoff since the release of the Gundam OVA series has resulted in a distressing deficiency of Mobile Suit on the American anime market, but that's about to change this fall. The first volume of Gundam SEED hits on August 10, while Sep- tember will finally bring the Gundam fan's Holy Grail. After six years of rumor and speculation, Zeta Gundam will be available in America as a complete limited-edition box set. The set packs in all 52 episodes of the second Gundam TV series, which features survivors from both sides of the One Year War banding together to fight the totalitarian forces of the new Earth government. The whole set is $200—a lot of money in just one shot, but not bad for more than 20 hours of absolutely classic mecha action. SEED, meanwhile, has become one of the best- received alternate-world Gundam series of the past decade. Though it's another riff on Earth- versus-the-colonists, the execution is a cut above the vapid Gundam Wing's—check it out on the Cartoon Network now. DEXTER, MEET ASTRO Sony has locked and loaded plans for an Astro Boy movie, but that’s not much of a surprise in itself. What's surprising is who the company has tapped to direct the flick—Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack. The Cartoon Network veteran has well and truly hit the big time, commanding a project that will combine live action, computer graphics, and advanced animatronic effects. No word yet on when it’s due for release, but the finished product should be something worth seeing. THUGS. LOTS OF THUGS Project A-Kon featured a few licensing announcements that may be of interest to hope- less degenerates—Funimation has picked up the lolicon nightmare Gunslinger Girl; ADV has the saccharine horror of Mermaid Melody Pitchi Pitchi Pitch—but the news wasn't all bad. Chiefly, ADV will be bringing out Sakigake!! Cro- martie Koukou, which follows the brilliant absur- dist adventures of young Takashi Kamiyama at the delinquent-dominated Cromartie High School. The reason for the show's title isn’t clear; why some of the school’s leading students include an oil-drum-shaped robot, a talking gorilla, and Queen front man Freddie Mercury is even less clear. Go with the cheerfully demented flow and watch out for DVD release news. SAMU-RIOT More positive news on the licensing front from A-Kon and the Licensing International Show: Geneon has confirmed plans to bring out Samurai Champloo, while Bandai has confirmed the long- overdue American release of Overman King- Gainer. Champloo, the latest project from Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe, is a hip-hop- infused samurai action series. King-Gainer, mean- while, is an impressive comeback for Gundam cre- ator Yoshiyuki Tomino that features slick mecha action in the ‘80s superrobot tradition and a bizarre sense of humor that spawned the most beautiful OP sequence in recent memory. BLOWING OFF STEAM Offering further evidence to support the once- unlikely contention that Steamboy would see a theatrical release, the Japanese press reports that the film will be in American theaters this fall. The latest superhero action project from Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo, Steamboy was in production for years, and its budget set a record for the highest price tag for a Japanese animated film. But it will evidently make it to select Stateside markets in October, in time to follow Spirited Away into potential 2005 Academy Award consideration. «€ IN STORES SEPTEMBER пун те Ру ~ dept TIE T» ao > ad "T X “кз GABS АНЕ UGLY, THE RACES ARE UGLY. PN "Ыл ый» U pa A te) zy E N pot г ANDIE THEBE WAS А GIRL WHO HANDED OUT lr) й ‚<А cote ath р у al a + J TROFHIES, SHED BE UGLY TOO. The only beauty you'll find in the new Test Drive series is in the crashes. Huge, gorgeous, stunning crashes. The kind you only dream about. Choose from 33 different vehicles, including a school bus and a hearse and 25 different disaster-inviting courses. Reckless driving. Tons of crashes. It's a beautiful thing. DRIVE IRRESPONSIBLY AT WWW.ATARI.COM/TESTDRIVE Mild Viol i зн ато тъ н ато та ИЙ PlayStation.2 момат [23 Г © 2004 Atari Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Manufactured and marketed by Atari, Inc., New York, NY. Developed by Monster Games, Inc. *PlayStation'and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microso VAIO POCKET Apple is rumored to be launching a new iPod with a color screen later this year, but Sony has beaten the company to the punch with this 40GB media player. In addition to storing up to 26,000 songs in MP3, WMA, or ATRAC3 format (Sony's proprietary format), the device also stores digital photos that can be displayed on its 2.2-inch color screen. You can even sync your digital cam- era to the thing in order to archive photos. Expect to see it in stores any day now for $500. 66 [OPM September 2004] STREAM TUNES ANYWHERE AIRPORT EXPRESS Plug it in to a power outlet, connect it to any stereo in the house, and stream your MP3 collec- tion by using the magic of Wi-Fi. This is exactly the kind of futuristic awesomeness that we were all promised would be in homes of the future when we were kids. The device itself is $129, and it is so simple to set up, you can either move a single device from stereo to stereo in your home or buy multiple units and manage each of them using a menu in iTunes on either your Mac or PC. THE OFFICIAL COMIC BOOK METAL GEAR SOLID IDW will unleash the first issue of the official Metal Gear comic book in late September. Written by Kris Oprisko and illustrated by Ashley Wood, the new series is a retelling of Snake's story from the beginning of the PS] game and features new background info on our favorite hero courtesy of Kojima himself. Check out www.idwpublishing .com if you want to know more. NEW ANIMATED SERIES TOYS ATMAN Warner Bros. Animation is about to hit us with a new Batman animated TV show, and Mattel has eight new 5-inch figures, each with 10 points of articulation, along with a huge cubicle-filling Bat- cave action set (which мете told is 3 feet tall) and а new rocket-launching Batmobile. The figures will set you back $6.99 each, the Batmobile $19.99, and the Batcave $39.99. MAGICAL CORDLESS HEADPHONES BLUETAKE BT420 I-PHONO We were wondering how long it would take before someone came up with a set of Bluetooth- enabled headphones, and Bluetake's pair look to be the very first on the market. Plug the dongle into your iPod or Walkman or whatever, turn on the phones, and enjoy six hours of cord-free prancing about in your own private little musical wonderland. The only catch? They cost a wallet- crushing $299. SMARTER SMART PHONE T-MOBILE SIDEKICK 2 Fans of the HipTop device previously available through T-Mobile will be excited to see that the Sidekick 2 is scheduled to hit stores any day now. This new unit is slimmer and sexier, and it has a nicer keyboard, a new color screen, and a camera that includes a flash. Expect to see it in stores before the end of the month for around the same price as the current color Sidekick. THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS SAMSUNG DUOCAM SCD6040 If we were about to spend $900 on a video cam- era, this is the one we'd choose. Why? Because it's a kick-ass fully featured MiniDV cam, and it's а 4.13-megapixel digital SD camera with all the trimmings. Each camera has its own lens and its own screen, and the whole thing is squeezed into a classy and compact matte-black package. This is the future of cameras. z ea 4 > 19 missions in the single player Command an elite squad of Special Utilize any means necessary to gain Start a quick fight as either a U.S. or campaign - 17 of the best from the PC Forces troops for maximum control of key enemy territory - Vietcong soldier and jump straight version and 2 new missions exclusive tactical strategy. gather intelligence, callin air strikes. into the demilitarized zone! for the console! • GATHERING PlayStation.e A ilusion ain ® ШШШ R Ff o 2002-2004 son Softworks as Vietcong, usin Softworks and the lusion Softworks logo are trademarks of Huston Softworks as. Pterodon and the Pterodon ово are trademarks of ДО Pterodon as. Gathering of Developers, the Gathering of Developers logo, Take-Two Interactive Software and the Take-Two logo are all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two RP for updated rating ЩЕ ФСЕ оета асаа Coyote Logos are trademarks of Coyote Developments Ltd. Developed by Coyote Console in association with Illusion Г " | Softworks and Pterodon. Published by Gathering of Developers. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered my (formation. | trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Uses Bink Video. @ 1997-2004 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. Render Ware is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. All other trademarks are properties ESRB | of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Ф HYPE BY THE NUMBERS Favorite drivers of OPM staff members, in no particular order: Kit Carson, Dale Earnhardt, The Dukes of Hazzard, Corey Haim, The Bandit, Toonces the Driving Cat, Ponch, Steve McQueen, Large Marge. OOO NO ! ul ^ U r ~ 1 "Don't be silly—we don't drive the cars, we just shoot at them.” Title (Publisher) 1| DRIV3R (Atari) Spider-Man 2 (Activision) Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Ubisoft) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (EA Games) Mega Man Anniversary Collection (Capcom) Front Mission 4 (Square Enix) XIII (Ubisoft) MVP Baseball 2004 (EA Sports) Fight Night 2004 (EA Sports) Shrek 2 (Activision) 1 | Red Dead Revolver (Rockstar) NBA Ballers (Midway Sports) 13 | DDRMAX 2 (Konami) 14 | Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Midway) 15 | Showdown: Legends of Wrestling (Acclaim) 16 | Samurai Warriors (Koei/EA) 17 | Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest (SOE) 18 | Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (Capcom) 19 | NBA Street Vol. 2 (EA Sports Big) 20 | Transformers (Atari) O O OO u ^U rv O O DO ul ^ U NJ Ш] oo SIS Soleo - 1 2 3 4 5 5 2 8 9 10 1 2 2) 4 5 5 Source: EB Games, June 2004. Numbers reflect the sales at EB and its affiliated outlets and don't Z include other retail outlets. That's probably why you'll never see Deer Hunter crack the top 10. Japan's 8 top 10 and the top 10 rentals come from other sources. Game descriptions written by the OPM staff. 9 Rev "Ет Up sources: Rekord Klub Saxonia, AP. 10 68 [OPM September 2004] Final Fantasy VII Square Enix Final Fantasy Chronicles Square Enix Final Fantasy Anthology. Square Enix Final Fantasy Origins Square Enix Final Fantasy МИ Square Enix Final Fantasy IX Square Enix Final Fantasy Tactics Square Enix Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 Atari Dora the Explorer: Barn Buds Jack of All Games Chrono Cross Square EA Pachislot: Fist of the North Star Sammy J. League Pro Soccer Club ‘04 Sega Xenosaga: Episode II Namco Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Capcom Super Robot Wars MX Banpresto Silent Hill 4 Konami 3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei Chun Soft Pachislot: Inoki Festival Success Sakurazaka Shobotai Irem Memories Off KID DRIV3R (PS2) Atari DRIV3R (XB) Atari Spider-Man 2 (PS2) Activision Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (PS2) Ubisoft Spider-Man 2 (XB) Activision Red Dead Revolver (PS2) Rockstar Shadow Ops: Red Mercury (XB) Atari Showdown: Legends of Wrestling (PS2) Acclaim NBA Ballers (PS2) Midway Chronicles of Riddick (XB) ^ Vivendi Universal Full Spectrum Warrior (XB) THQ Chronicles of Riddick (XB) ^ Vivendi Universal Zelda: The Four Swords (GC) Nintendo Spider-Man 2 (XB) Activision DRIV3R (PS2) Atari Spider-Man 2 (PS2) Activision DRIV3R (XB) Atari NES Zelda (GBA) Nintendo Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (PS2) Ubisoft NES Mario (GBA) Nintendo IN ASSOCIATION WITH EEGAMES electronics boutique’ TREND SPOTTER All the animals popping up in games are start- ing to make us feel like we work in a zoo— especially since many of them show up embedded in a big pile of manure. | Г | 1 Catwoman anm /. Spider-Man 2 Leisure Suit Larry REV 'EM UP Baby, you can drive our car. The number of minu Branson to cross the Engl : palaces, _ double the Digimon fun! Are you to kick some digi-butt? З Cartoon оа ©2004 Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation. TM & © 1997-2004 Bandai. BANDAI & RUMBLE ARENA are registered trademarks of Bandai. omic касие Program ©2004 Bandai. TM, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. This year is particularly significant for the future of racing games. An incredible num- ber of products are coming to PS2 this holiday season, and there's been a dramatic change in what these games emphasize; we'll also be see- ing the triumphant return of a number of key franchises. Gran Turismo 4 will finally arrive after an achingly long wait, Electronic Arts is hitting us with a sequel to its shockingly successful Need for Speed Underground (which completely reinvented the aging franchise), and Rockstar is responding to the swelling ranks of the subgenre it helped create with the original Midnight Club with a game that takes the idea of modification in a completely new direction. These three heavyweights are joined by the latest in the T7- year-old Test Drive franchise; new kids on the tuner-culture block, Juiced and Street Racing Syndicate; Konami's challenger to Gran Türismo's throne, Enthusia; and Criterion's incredible third game in the Burnout franchise. Although dramatically different in execution, all eight games are indicative of the changing atti- tudes publishers and developers have toward the genre. We gathered representatives from all of these titles to comment on the changing tastes of gamers and to talk about the future of racing. In the past, at this time of year we'd be brac- ing ourselves for a deluge of Formula One, NASCAR, and other motorsport products with the latest date tacked onto the box. This year, there are hardly any, and instead we are met with a large number of games that simply cele- brate the idea of racing fast cars. Why so many, though? "There are a lot of racing games released every year, and most of them are unre- markable,” says Jay Panek, the producer of Rockstar San Diego's Midnight Club 3: Dub Edi- tion. “| believe your average track-based racing game is relatively easy to develop. This year, there are a lot of street-racing games coming out, which has to do with the mainstreaming of Iwww.lUP.com] 71 5 ALL ABOUT THE BLING While other street-racing games are primarily about tuning import cars (frequently dismissed as “rice rockets” or "ricers"), the newest Midnight Club is aiming for a meatier market. With the help of Dub maga- zine, Midnight Club 3 supplants (or at least complements) the speed-is- everything mentality with an eye toward luxury, flash, and style. More than 50 licensed SUVs, muscle cars, imports, and motorcycles will be nigh- infinitely customizable. Want to throw hydraulics on your Escalade? It’s yours. How about a two-tone paint job for your chopper? Pick the colors to form a custom blend. You want spinning rims on your Hummer? Go for it. Dozens of real-life manufacturers have lent their products’ likenesses to MC3 to allow for a staggering variety of customization. Once you customize your ride, you'll be able to take to the streets of Detroit, Atlanta, and San Diego to compete in dozens of different race styles. While these won't be map-perfect representations, they'll be close enough that anyone familiar with the layout of any of these cities can find their way around easily. Watch yourself, though; even though you're driving licensed vehicles, each one has fully modeled damage. Yes, Rockstar has somehow managed to beat ће auto manufacturers into submission, and now, even fancy-ass SUVs ERIS 7 We ћутке Ату didn't really a| < think about the tunef ciltdre where * the) commissionédithe Hummer. ' take damage to the body, glass, and undercarriage їп a realistic fashion. So, yes, you'll get to spend tons of time and money pimping out your ride—and then smashing it up real good. Sounds like a hit to us! Pub. Rockstar Dev. Rockstar San Diego Release Fall this culture. The original Midnight Club was the first street-racing game ever, and its success turned a lot of heads. Not long after, The Fast and the Furious came out and took the culture, at least a commercialized version of it, into places far beyond games.” "| agree that the mod games seem to have gotten a big push because of the success of The Fast and the Furious movies," says James Dima, the associate producer of Acclaim's Juiced. "But there are a lot of others coming out too, though. Cars have become an extension of peo- ple's personalities, just like clothes and music— so it's a relevant way for people to express themselves and communicate with others." Owen Justice, the producer of Monster 2. Games’ Test Drive: Eve of Destruction has a dif- ferent attitude. "Are there more this year than last?" he asks. "Or the year before? It could be there are; I’m just not sure that this year marks a major departure. Driving has always been big. It is a natural genre for consoles.” “It's business,” confesses Chris Downend, the ~ ~ AD 3, executive producer of Namco’s SRS: Street Rac- ing Syndicate. "It's tough to get approval on 4, projects with budgets in the millions these days. Everyone is looking for ways to mitigate risks, so it’s safer to go after a proven genre, like racing. If you can add some incremental innovations to get the game over the top, you have a winner.” 5. Customization and the associated street- racing scene certainly appear to be something that everyone agrees has been a major catalyst for game design. “It has become the dominant expression of car culture in the United States,” says Dan Houser, the vice president of creative 8. at Rockstar. “Not only is car racing something videogames can now do in a more visceral and compelling way than movies, but so is cus- 9; tomization—people can create the car of their dreams, down to the tiniest details. Of course, people expect certain things to be done in NO 72 [OPM September 2004] games; they will no longer accept bad production values or the misrepresentation of subcultures. This is something we have always taken very seriously at Rockstar. So, for us to enter an arena, we will always try to find the right people to work with—people who are game fans and have their own expertise. For car customization, Dub magazine are the godfathers, and they also understand games, so they are proving to be great people to work with.” “To be clear, the Dub culture and the tuner culture are two very different things,” explains Panek. “I think tuner culture, with modified Mit- subishis, Hondas, and the like, has become a very common element in racing games these days. This is not a criticism; the tuner culture is still hot, and we were sure to incorporate this into Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition. But the high- end, flashy Dub culture is not present in modern racing games. Well, not yet anyway. The truth is that racing games have not caught up with the cutting-edge real-life automotive subculture, which is all about the customization you see in Dub magazine.” “Now that online racing is becoming a stan- dard,” Acclaim’s Dima explains, “having this high degree of customization is really important. Players need to have the ability to personalize their rides to the fullest extent—their cars are what represent them online.” As games have embraced the tuning culture, we've also found that we're seeing a step away from realism and hardcore simulation aspects toward a looser, more arcade-style experience. Although Need for Speed Underground features real cars and aftermarket parts, a lot of its suc- cess can be attributed to the nature of its game- play. “I think people want to do things in videogames that they can’t do in real life,” Rock- star’s Panek declares. “Some racing games are very impressive simulations, but they can feel boring and slow to those who are not serious auto enthusiasts. Plus, the learning curve is usually severe. People want to get their hands on a racing game and have fun and the freedom to do what they want. Track-based, hyperrealis- tic racing games certainly have their niche, but they are limiting.” “Hmm, | can’t say | agree with that,” says Alex Ward, the director of design at Criterion Games. “Most games coming out tend to fea- ture real cars and thus lean toward more of a simulation feel, rather than a pure pick-up-and- play arcade vibe. When we started making the first Burnout a few years back, we had practi- cally every door in the industry slammed in our faces. Everyone was telling us, "You can't make an arcade game; arcade driving is a no-no, forget it’ But we were passionate about making a game with a decent drift in there. We wanted to bring back the feeling of OutRun or Sega Rally." “If there has been a move toward arcade style, | think it was done not because it was a goal in and of itself, but rather to give the player continued on page 76 ^TRACK-BASED, HYPERREALISTIC ~ RACING GAMES CER INLY HAVE THEIR NICHE; BUT ARE LIMITING.” —ЈАУ PANEK, ROCKSTAR SAN DIEGO} Who knew it was possible? The graphics in Underground 2look even better than last time. Underground 2 now has a real-live girl on the cover. Gentlemen, start your engines for Brooke Burke, the most searched-for lady on the Interweb. Ex CI — "aw на LLIILÁ P Last year's big kahuna faces some stiff competition this year, but EA Canada certainly seems to have plenty of tricks up its sleeve. The big hook this year is the open city, which, although mocked by Rockstar as some- thing “we did years ago,” is still a huge deal in terms of the way the game hangs together. One of Underground's problems was the pacing, as well as the fact that you had to race through every single event in order to open up all the goodies. Underground 2 lets you off the hook somewhat, and now you can cruise around the gigantic city and simply jump into events you like. Don't enjoy drifting? Then steer clear of drift events and stick to the ‘other six event types. There аге lots of opportunities for 1-on-l races, too. You can challenge other drivers cruising around and beat them simply by getting a set distance in front of them, or check your pager for scheduled races that are set up by your ever-broadening circle of contacts. We didn't think the game could improve much graphically, but shock- ingly, the team has managed to squeeze a whole bunch of new effects out the PS2. Some of the simplest are the most effective, with one of our les being the reflecting lane markers that help draw attention to the ute. It's a very simple device, but it is remarkably effective and adds to the whole night-driving experience. EA Canada November ED РОК SPEED DERGROUND 2 AN OPEN CITY, MORE CARS, MORE EVENTS...AND BROOKE BURKE [www.IUP.com] 73 + = € WATCH THE VIDEO SRS: STREET RACING SYNDICATE Check out the video of Namco's upcoming street racer on our DVD! 74 [OPM September 2004] Juiced's boast that there are more than 7.2 trillion cars—which works out to 1,200 cars for every person currently alive—is a tall one. Then again, considering the large number of aftermar- ket parts, in addition to three distinct layers of paint (each layer has an individual coat, and all three coats blend into some weird übercolor), there’s no chance of anyone driving the same car as you. You can also race online for pink slips; the winner gets a copy of the loser's car transferred to his memory card. Juiced features unique team-based gameplay. As you accrue respect, you start assembling a rac- ing crew. If you don't have the money or equip- ment to participate in a race, just send a goon in your spot. His win or loss still affects you, so it's a small gamble to send a substitute; but if you and the three guys you sent to individual races all win, that's quadruple the earnings. Or have your racing buddies help you out in cooperative races. While you and your buds compete simultaneously with Some other cars, you can order them to race down a specific path or even block off your opponents for you. You can even start your own races to attract rivals or possible chums to your corner of the city. Dub. Acclaim Dev. Juice Games Release September What does it take to set your street-racing game apart from the rest of the pack? According to Eutechnyx, the answer is lots of hot chicks. It's all about your rep in SRS. The more races you win and fancy driving you pull off, the more cuties—18 in all—come headed your way. They're not just going to throw themselves at you, though—first you have to win them over by living up to a challenge they present you with (race through the markers in time, hit some big air, etc.). Success adds the hottie to your “girlfriend collection" (we kid you not), where, after learning their “interests” and measurements, you can then see these real-life import-mag models strut their scantily clad stuff in music videos. As far as the rest of the game is concerned, expect much of your typical street-racing and cus- tomization fare. Progress through free-roaming versions of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Miami, We sure love shiny cars here! Espe- cially ones with crazy decals on them! Like a unicorn, for example! competing in organized circuits or against any punk with the cajones to challenge you (if you don't feel like driving to a destination, you can even just “jump” there). You've got several cars from seven manufacturers available, as well as lots of customization for each. SRS further distinguishes itself with some awesome online features. Just imagine taking your souped-up Eclipse online—one you've spent hours modifying—but then you see another dude with an awesomely customized RX-7...and you want it. You can put your Mitsubishi up against his Mazda—winner takes all. But don't think you'll get off easy if you lose. Your car is totally stripped away from your memory card, even for single-player mode. In other words, wager with caution. Bub, Namco Dev, Eutechnyx Release September CALCULATIONS. High color depth is typically defined as 65,535 colors. So 65,535 to the third power is more like 700 tril- lion color combos! TECMO | 100% GAMES www.tecmogames.com JOP RACER 2004, SIZE DOESNT MATTER! ROCK THE JOCK ON THE THOROUGHBREDS THAT YOU BUY AND TRA REALISTIC HORSE RACING GAME EVER MADE! EXPERIENCE MORE TRACKS, MORE HOR MORE CONTROL, AND MORE GAMBLING IN THE HOTTEST SEASON MODE EVER! er EL . Г x * 3 Advanced camera mechanics! Earn gold and use it to Ride the perfect race for customize your environment! { the Big Revolution! 2 MLM... H 2 dq nn Visit www.esrb.org " for updated rating P А р [тутип formation. Gallop Racer® 2004 6 Tecmo, UD. Тоспо and the Тесто logo are trademarks of Tecmo LID, "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family ego are PI ation: 2 ESRB registered iradomarks of Sony Computer Enlerloinment Inc. The ratings icon is o Кабета of fhe Inleoclive Digital Sofwore Associationi ayStation.t FESSIONAL RACING ENTHUSIASM IS MOUNTING continued from page 72 a greater sensation of speed,” Monster's Justice explains. “Why do | say this? Well, how do we make players feel like they are going faster? One way is to put them in faster cars, another is to have the tracks be narrower or have a lot of objects that the player must drive very close to. These things all increase the sensation of speed. However, they also make the course more diffi- cult to drive. So, how do you keep the game easy but still have it move fast? You make the cars supereasy to control, and voilà, arcade mode rears its head!” £1 think the short answer is Gran Turismo.” Namco's Downend admits. “It’s the king of real- ism and simulation. It's bad business to go ~ head-to-head against a dominant first-party title. The money, resources, and selling power 4 Many have tried, but none have succeeded in challenging Gran Turismo as the de facto driv- ing simulator for the PS2, but Konami hopes (somewhat foolishly, according to some) to change all of that with Enthusia—its own take on the world of racing and the culture surrounding it. As you might suspect, the development team has painstakingly remodeled each of the licensed cars (from 40 manufacturers) down to the smallest detail and all that mumbo jumbo, but it's working even harder to replicate the actual physics of driving via the visual gravity system. It's not something that casual driving fans would be pafticularly impressed by, but it attempts to ‘accurately replicate the G forces put =“ on a driver's body while taking turns, particularly 5 d г grasp the complex physics of cars as well as have a great knowledge of sport driving,” explains Manabu Akita, the producer of Konami's Enthusia. “1 believe there are too many racing games that are trying to be all things to all people. What game fans seem to want is a unique and fun experience that can occur only in a videogame world.” Is Gran Turismo guilty of trying to be “all things to all people”? We assume that this is what Akita is too polite to say outright. Could it be argued that perhaps this time, Yamauchi and his team are being too grand in their plans for the franchise? “Boy, do | have a love-hate relationship with the GT series,” Monster's Justice admits. “The marketing people at Sony might try to label GT4 ^| BELIEVE THERE ARE TOO MANY RACING GAMES THAT TRY TO BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE.” that they can bring to bear on the game sets а ry high standard. There is room for additional #sim-racing games, but to succeed, they need a ~ license or a venue that sets them apart— +» NASCAR or World Rally Championship or Formula One or street racing. On top of that, simulation tends to be a narrow area that restricts creativity. In.contrast, arcade-racing action offers the freedom to stretch reality, offer innovative gameplay features, and create a sub- genre that you can dominate." _ "Simulation racing games require players to 76 [OPM September 2004] —MANABU AKITA, KONAMI as the ‘everything’ car game, but | don't think. the developers see it as that. To me, GT4 isa car-enthusiast game. It is about allowing people to live out the fantasy of driving real cars in fan- tastic places. It's not a tuner car game; it's not a ‘drive on real streets’ game or even a ‘driving as a sport’ game. For example, if you are into rally asa sport, GT4 isn't going to satisfy you. It's missing too many of the aspects of the sport: long stage events with time adding up, real courses, real drivers, real teams, etc. Do 1 think that GT4 gives gamers a great car-enthusiast FALKES то ја! pressure on 1 ts weight balance. The amount of pressure is indicated onscreen in the form of a meter and the way the car moves, 50 you can actually feel the G forces and adjust accordingly. In fact, much of the emphasis is placed solely on the way cars control and adapt to different driving situations. It's Enthusia's biggest hook, since it's not relying on an absolutely massive list of cars or tfacks (though it's worth noting that the des: ick in Enthusia randomly gen- erates every time you play) and should make the game a big hit with-hardcore driving:enthusiasts. Pub. Konami Dev. Konami Release 2005 game? Heck yes!" “A game like GT can be very daunting to casual racing fans," Acclaim's Dima interjects. "In the past GT games, you had to do. a lot of ‘work’ before getting to the fun Stuff. And once you did get to the faster cars, there were still a lot of cumbersome races to. deal with. Car aficionados drool over all that stuff, but a lot of casual gamers dismiss it for being too real.” “I'm actually a huge GT fan, so | disagree that it's too grand,” says Criterion's Ward. “One of the Criterion designers, Paul Glancey, has an interesting line on this, though. He states that GT is a great game if you love cars and you love videogames. If you're a car nut but don't play too many videogames, then you'll probably struggle with the main work of GT. Conversely, if you're a huge gamer but not too into cars, you'll struggle because when it comes down to the details of adjusting gear ratios and other such nonsense, you'll probably just switch it off." “GT4 is going the only way it can to advance the game and offer something compelling to the player at the end-of-life of a hardware plat- form,’ Namco's Downend adds. “They have squeezed every bit of realism out the current hardware, so they are forced to broaden the game into a 'soup to nuts' selection of realistic. racing venues. It is an immensely expensive proposition that only a first-party game can jus- tify economically. It's the type of platform- exclusive game that drives hardware sales, and hence, that can help justify the cost. But the. player is the winner in this equation." If Gran Turismo 4 is the ultimate expression of what the current hardware can offer, what's next? What can we possibly expect that will address the title of this story—what is "the road ahead” for racing games? "That's really the mil- lion dollar question, isn't it?" asks Need for continued on page 80 iJ id $, 4 IENCE THE TERMINATOR UNIVERSE LIKE NEVER BEFORE. ALL 2004 INATOR 3 RATING PENDING Visit www.esrb.org ^ [СУЙСЕ Ord D E for updated rating е | p PlayStation о X C Laon information. ЕЧ [ ie y i эсер eam н INTERMEDIA 4 Atari, Inc. & IC Video LLC. Al | BURNOUT 3 See what Alex Ward was talking about with this return to the arcade-rac- ing principles of games | like OutRun, Burnout 315 seriously fast, and seri- ously fun. Play it now! 78 [OPM September 2004] ABY No one who's sat down at the helm of a racing game can deny that whatever your feeling about the genre as a whole, it’s hella fun to drive fast. Sadly, a lack of skill keeps many of us from spending much time on the road. Enter Burnout 3: Takedown. It's not that B3 doesn't require skill—it does. But if your driving abilities happen to highlight your skill at running into things, then you have finally found your racing game. B3's physics are more, well, forgiving than those in many other racing games, plus the game actu- ally encourages reckless driving, awarding bonus points for risky behavior and opponent takedowns. Get a taste of the racing with the sample lap on this month's demo disc. Try sideswiping the other racers for an increase of the amount of boost in your boost meter, but watch out—if they hit you first, then you lose your boost to them. As fun as the demo is, however, it doesn't come close to touching our favorite mode, crash mode, in which the entire goal is to create as expensive of a crash as possible. Since the sequence of cars in each scenario is the same every time, we've found it requires a surprising amount of strategy. Which gets better results: catching the edge of the streetcar so that it blocks as many lanes of traffic as possible or broadsiding the oil tanker in the hopes that it will explode? Add in power-ups that offer speed boosts, score multipliers, and the oh-so-upsetting heartbreaker (which automatically halves your score), and you've opened up hours of striving for that perfectly horrible accident. Believe us, we're talking from experience. The best part? There are 100 different crash scenarios, all of which can be played either solo, cooperatively, or competitively. CRASH AND BURN, І EA Games Dev. Criterion Games September (uus V* (ERASH BREAK uve. | Our current crash i | score is 1.97 million dollars | worth of damage, achieved by Monsieur Joe Rybicki, С EET “EO Ir уз 1 127 Ес ЕР гї КУ ГҮ Z. NOWHERE YOU CAN'T GO. NOTHING YOU CAN’T DO. N ( Take New York for a spin. Preview the game trailer on the Spider-Man Deluxe Edition DVD. www. activision.com/spideg-man Available Now. Do anything Spider-Man® can Go anywhere and interact Pick your own path: battle Swing through a living, highly Web swing for the first time with breathtaking new moves with anyone and anything. Doc Ock, bust street crimes detailed Manhattan. from street to rooftop across and amazing combos. or clash with classic villains. the entire city. TEEN ea а | Violence X (€; А 7 : A sw | ИМЕ ео мак оа { ESRB CONTENT RATING _ wwwest.og PlayStation.? Жүн ^=сх ES Ш Spider-Man and all related Marvel characters, TM & © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. Spider-Man, the Movie, and Spider-Man 2, the Movie © 2004 Columbia Pictures Industries, = Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Activision Publishing, Inc, Game code © 2004 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. "PlayStation" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos аге registered trademarks or N-GAGE с | CIIVISION trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, ®, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube NOKIA таша logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. PC CD-ROM logo TM and © IEMA 2003. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software l Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. activision.com OLD GLORY WITH NEW POLISH Most people don't realize that Test Drive is the oldest and most diversified racing series to date. The original debuted way back in 1987, and since then, more than 38 versions of Test Drive have been released on varying platforms ranging from the Amiga to the PS2. While the core of the series is focused on standard racing, it branched out into other areas, including off-road, rally racing, and now, rock-em-sock-em racing. Of course, no game with the word “destruc- tion” in the title would be complete without a demolition derby; fortunately, one of EOD's many modes lets you smash 14 other cars to pieces. But really, anything that involves metal striking even more metal at a high rate of speed is fine by us. Pub. Atari Dev. Monster Games Release September continued from page 76 Speed Underground 2 producer Chuck Osieja. “1 think that games like Underground and Gran Turismo have proven that players really want the ability to customize their racing experience. Whether it is with a wide selection, visuals, and performance, like in Underground, or with a wide variety of cars, like in GT, | think that's the cost of entry now. As a player, you need to be able to express yourself and your personality through the car you're driving or through what you've done to it. Unless it's a pure arcade experience, | think that any time you're asking a player to invest significant time, you need to give them enough choices to really personalize their game. The biggest problem that | see is a lack of cre- ativity. It’s rare that | pick up a mag and see a racing game and say, ‘I can't wait to get my hands on that.’ There is way too much ‘me too’ in the industry, and consumers are too smart to fall for it. Look at all of the GT clones that shipped in the last few years. They didn’t even try to do anything different. We're seeing the same thing now with Underground. We knew it was going to happen, but here come the 'street- racing games with rain-slicked roads.’ Whoo- hoo, | can't wait for that. As a gamer, | play as much as Ї can, and | think that my tastes are as discriminating as anyone's. I've got only so much time to dedicate to my gaming, so | want my experience to either be tried-and-true with a brand that | know consistently delivers, or | want it to be something new and fresh that chal- lenges my skills. | want to get my $50 worth every time." "Each new hardware introduction brings rac- ing one step closer to modeling real life,” Namco's Downend tells us. "Photo-realistic, and | mean really photo-realistic rendering is right there on the horizon with the next systems. Realistic crashes and crash damage are there, too—limited only by what the auto manufactur- ers will allow us to do with their cars. For the fanatical player, true return-to-center steering is coming, and all of this will give you the closest possible real-life simulation. Anyone that thinks they are getting a true simulation of driving a car in a videogame with a DualShock has clearly not seen the inside of a real car. Free-roaming cities that allow you to drive anywhere are here 80. [OPM September 2004] already and will become a standard feature from now on, even though racing is all about a single linear track and finding the racing line. Every game will need a free-roam mode to be competi- tive. Also, | think we have to expect deep and broad customization and tuning options. Living and breathing city streets dense with pedestri- ans, cars, and traffic are right around the corner. It's all stuff we've seen already, but it will be bet- ter. You can expect more of everything. It's a for- mula that has worked for 20 years, and it will keep working as long as cars remain part of our lives and a source of power and freedom for every teenager." “The future of racing games is going to reflect what gamers want now;" says Rockstar's Panek. "The fundamental desire is for blazing speed and total control, with as much freedom and ability to personalize your ride as possible. Of course, the best racing is when you are com- peting against real people, so a massive online next generation of hardware and its higher spec- T ifications, we think this could change to 300. ANT times per second or even 600 times per second. This will allow us to model details about the way a car behaves in a much more realistic way than we can right now, and the possibilities it offers are endless. “Another aspect to consider is the graphics,” he beams. “For Gran Turismo 4, look at them...they're nice, they're very pretty...for a game. With the next-generation hardware, the target will obviously be to bring that to another stage where it will be much prettier than reality.” Huh? “Take the environment and atmosphere seen in the Grand Canyon course, for example,” he smiles. “There are times when you can see the same scenery with perfect lighting, like a beautiful sunset, and maybe only once in a hun- dred years do you see something like that. We have the advantage of being able to provide that beauty in a virtual world, and that goes beyond HTSA FORMULA THAT HAS 'ORKED FOR 20 YEARS, ANDIT iLL KEEP WORKING.” —CHRIS DOWNEND, NAMCO experience is an area where a lot of ideas will evolve.” The future is something that Gran Turismo's creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, is always keen to discuss. “Of course, in the immediate future | would hope to release GT4 on PSP as soon as possible,” he jokes. “But | really want to be able to produce a full-spec version of the game. What I don't want to do is remove features to fit it onto a handheld, so that's first on my list.” Beyond this goal, he's also interested in really getting into the nitty-gritty of making a car game. "Let's take the category of car physics,” he muses. "Currently in GT4 on the PS2, the cal- culations for car physics are done 60 times a second, the same as the framerate. But with the reality. | want to re-create a very beautiful atmosphere with all of the advantages of next- generation technology." It would appear that the future of racing games is more of everything we have now. The apparent power of the upcoming PlayStation 3 hardware will allow designers to model things in greater detail and present them in near-as- dammit photo-realistic detail. We'll also see the genre move down the road that Need for Speed, SRS, and Midnight Club are already taking us with open environments, enormously thorough customization options, and plenty of freedom in an online environment. Never has the expression "bigger, better, faster, more!" been more appro- priate for the development of a genre. м MILES GRAN TURISMO 4 Every month between now and when the game comes out, we'll have exclusive footage on our DVD. It looks like Gran Turismo 4 is now on track for an early December release; a time win- dow that we are told is absotively, posilutely going to be stuck to. There’s no way whatsoever that the game is going to slip into next year— this is it, kids. So with a little more than four months to go, it continues to surprise us just how much Yamauchi and his team haven't revealed about the game. What we do know is that this is the game to beat, and all future rac- ing games will no doubt be judged against it. The Paris screens we have here are all new and appropriately exclusive, and we've also learned that the Las Vegas Strip (which you an see in the exclusive new screens over there on the right) will appear in the game as a drag strip, which is one of the coolest things we've heard in a long while (hey, we don't get out much). Details of the much-rumored downloadable con- tent are still unconfirmed (we've heard about as much as you have; possibly tracks at some point, almost certainly cars, but no one knows when), and although Yamauchi has acknowl- edged an interest in aftermarket mods, we still haven't seen a confirmed supplier list. Why the lack of information? Sounds like it's all down to the licenses being signed here in the United States. At some point in the not-too- distant future, there's going to be a spectacular explosion of information about the game, including a final car list (and judging from these screens, the crappy sedan segment is to be more than ably represented) and a mods list, as well as confirmation on all 1OO tracks. In the meantime, check out how good the whole thing looks on our DVD this month. SCEA Dev. Polyphony Digital December These exclusive new shots of the Las Vegas drag strip have us giddy, but why would you go there in a crappy old Taurus? [www.lUP.com] 81 ш = = > ЕЗ ш > [е Mad for MADDEN? We understand. Get it here. Get it first. Stores open till midnight on August 9th* Free Madden Playbook Get more than $200 in great coupons when you buy Madden '05 for $49.99—only at Game Crazy. Why you'll be mad for Game Crazy: v World’s largest selection of NEW, USED and CLASSIC games and consoles > Try ANY game before you buy > Get more for trades— guaranteed! > Pre-order any game for only $5 and get a free game rental > Always 12 free rentals at Hollywood Video? (a $72 value) with any new console Hit for a store near you. fe БАМЕСИВЕ. * Select stores only. OPM PRESENTS — А“ NIY - (A eS ^A M. Ж | Ml зз << OLLEC. 4 TION 'EOPLE TO $ GAME! ! a Street Figitter An d Udon’s iei TU с һе 17 ori to jenter, See website forf II conte RATING PENDING Visit www.esrb.org for updated ratin M AN p 9 Strategy Guide information. | AVAILABLE B ج‎ CAPCOM CO, LTD. 2004, @CAPCOM U.S.A. INC. 2004 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM LOGO are registered trademarks of CAPCOM CO, LTD. STREET FIGHTER is a trademark of CAPCOM CO, LTD, "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. АЙ other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. Comic Book artwork 2004 UDON Entertainment Corp. Street Fighter Controllers, Street Fighter ™ and © 2004 Capcom Co, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. © 2004 NubyTech Inc. All Rights Reserved. [www.lUP.com] 85 @ Great videogames tend to share one thing in common: an unforgettable core gameplay mechanic around which the rest of the game is entirely built. Sneaking up to break a neck in Metal Gear Solid. A Musou attack in Dynasty Warriors. Gobbling a ghost in Pac-Man. That sort of thing. Spi- der-Man 25 unforgettable core gameplay mechanic—webslinging—rivals that of any- thing you've ever played before. Trouble is, unlike the other games listed above (and pretty much any other classic), Spidey 2 fails to deliver beyond this feature, resulting ina slightly messy game that doesn't feel entirely complete. Webslinging has always served as the Backbone of Spider-Man games, ever since the wallcrawler's PlayStation debut in 2000, but Treyarch really, truly nails it here. For starters, there's no reason to suspend your disbelief about your webs sticking to things above you even when you're atop the Chrysler Building—if there's nothing to latch to, you're not web- bing on anything. To go one step further, a new physics engine ensures that wherever your webs do land, they're swinging you in the most realistic direction. Throw in speed- up and superhigh-jump abilities, and you're in for a wild ride. I've never experienced a game that makes you feel both out of con- trol and totally in control at the same time. Spidey 2 is a veritable webslinging simula- tor, and Spider-Man himself would probably attest to its accuracy (well, if he weren't a fictional character, anyway). And you can do this all across Manhat- tan. Just like in Grand Theft Auto, the whole city is yours for the slinging at any time in the game. And while New York City in Spidey 2 is no London in The Getaway, expect a very sold representation including most of the Big Apple's major landmarks, from Times Square to Lady Liberty. And nothing—absolutely nothing—beats free- fallin’ off the Empire State Building (eat your heart out, Tom Petty!), only to whip out a web at the last second and save your- self from going splat. But alas, the time it must have taken to perfect such wonderful webslinging seems to have interfered with Treyarch’s focus for the actual composition of | the game. The rest of the | webhead’s chores—you know, all that crime fighting and being a hero stuff—just don't even come close to living up to the greatness of swinging through the town. As cool as having the entire city at your whim may be, it simul- taneously contributes largely to where Spidey 2 fails. Activision proudly points out that part of being Spider-Man involves stumbling upon crimes conducted by com- mon thugs. It's a good idea in theory—it just gets way too repetitive, and you're beating the crap out of punks with a shoddy combat system. Fighting just doesn't feel very fluid, and it simply never feels very fun. | know New York City isn't the safest Я | Strapping criminals to light posts сы е : place in the world, but this is ridiculous. Are NOT ACGUIAED is one of the cool moves you can А Spidey can even swing from trees there really daily shoot-outs between cops ACQUIRED purchase from your local Spidey S 1 if he's desperate for somewhere and robbers? Daily armored-car robberies ROT, MED Store using hero points. 1 у ‚ to place his webbing. |. for that matter? Even the “friendly neigh- AERA x Е borhood Spider-Man” sequences get ACQUIRED == ~ А | tedious. Should | really be slinging a peal ocean : Ў Ў wounded construction worker through town 4 | to the hospital? Wouldn't an ambulance do FINDING a better job? And is every kid in town a STUFF whiner who's lost his balloon? Sure seems Much like packages in that way. Grand Theft Auto, various | f | к” із All of these menial tasks іп а huge, free- tokens can be found any- 4 . 2 > 1. ` roaming city take the focus off of the bigger Stop everyday crimes either fries to catch. By hour 10, | had beaten Doc | totally at random or when a Ock for good, but defeating him in pedestrian like this guy points out some ways felt more like a side a wrongdoer. quest than the central goal of the P ] game. Same goes for the other supervil- lains, especially Rhino (lame)—all four min- utes of him. It’s actually Mysterio (lamer) who poses the most opposition to the wall- crawler, with several challenges such as an obstacle course and a fun house that would make even the Joker proud. And then there's Shocker (lamest), whom | can only assume is there for the third time in the last three PlayStation Spider-Man titles because Treyarch was too lazy to design the Fabu- lous Frog-Man. At least Black Cat shows up in several chase missions (which, too, even- tually grow tedious) to help extinguish the flame of lame (even if she basically is just a Catwoman rip-off). This being a movie game and all, you'd. think the best boss fights would belong to Doc Ock. Nah...just the last ones. And even Ё though the battles may occur in the same settings as de ones in the movie, they lack not only the coolness, but also the soul. Much | t % where in Manhattan, from the tops of skyscrapers and buoys to thief hideouts and other nooks and crannies. Your reward for collecting all of a certain type? The green word “acquired” as opposed to the yellow words “not acquired” on the Awards screen. Yep...that’s it. The huge-ass wrench is obvi- ously the in-weapon for NYC thugs this season. potential was lost in the train scene, which involves nothing more than fighting atop a train (and probably falling off a few times). “5 Why can’t Doc Ock terrorize passengers like he does in the movie? And once you beat SPIDER-MAN 2 | © { him, why doesn’t the game actually make you relive what could very well be the most V Е RI || АВ LE WE B- superheroic, sacrificial moment in super- hero movie history, when Spidey has to | actually stop the train? We just get a lousy _ SLI N G | N G СІ cut-scene instead. And just think of the — possibilities if Treyarch had bothered to address the losing-powers aspect—it's n 1 even mentioned. 2 If the team had been given another six —~ EVERYDAY SUPERHEROICS à : š ! months to work on the game, I'd like to think. Here are a few of the random crimes and calls for E oversights like these could have been reme- help you'll stumble upon...way too often. | IRS. ost died. Maybe Treyarch could have tweaked : б А Spidey 25 general gameplay enough to at least approach the greatness of the web- | Retrieve lost balloons for Beat up wrench-wielding every whiny kid in NYC. thugs who steal purses. THE WEBSLINGING AND NYC MODEL EVERYTHING: ELSE Activision earch Teen $49.99 Do thousands of dollars of damage to speeders’ cars. Save the same moron from falling off a ledge. THIS CAT BREAKS ALL FOUR LEGS UPON LANDING Catwoman uses her feline powers, 2 ` such as...ummm, magical cart- wheels, to defeat villains. Somewhere out in the great beyond lies a parallel universe where everything is the opposite of ours (some have dubbed it “the Bizarro uni- verse”). The proof: Catwoman, the Bizarro Prince of Persia. To put it in simpler terms, it’s as if someone took the Prince formula, added a dash of digital Halle Berry, and then gave this recipe to an imbecile for actual concoction. Everything that Prince did oh so right has been oh so bungled here. Gone are the great controls, the interesting jumping puzzles, and the slick com- bat. Catwoman instead sports horrendously non- sensical jumps, puzzles that lack purpose, and limp-wristed combat replete with terrible innuen- dos. What takes mere minutes in Prince or Ninja Gaiden is crippled and takes at least half an hour to accomplish here. If the horrid controls or the demand for ran- domly acquired perfection (when there's essen- tially only one way to jump onto something, but you can't do it consistently and hence depend purely on luck at that point) didn't condemn the jumping puzzles, the nigh-useless camera does the trick. Several times, the camera not only fails to show where to jump to next, but it also switches angles at bizarre opportunities—which, due to camera-relative controls, means that Catwoman might switch direction in mid jump or climb. Catwoman to disable enemies by throwing them into conveniently located vents, chests, or boxes. CATCALL “What's that you say? You've found another cross- licensing opportunity? How purrrr- i The amazingly silly “scaredy cat” system allows Luckily, if she doesn't throw them, they actually throw themselves in for you. What few positives redeem Catwoman from being imprisoned in some sort of gaming gulag? Well, er, EA UK certainly knows how to make a pretty game, as colored lighting fogs and flares and blooms all over the place, and Catwoman is awash in an unearthly sheen. There are rare moments of competence, such as how Catwoman can latch her whip onto objects and run along the walls, and the chance to fight a golf-club-wielding Sharon Stone. With only a mere six chapters, the pain ends quickly. If only EA could cast this back into the Bizarro dimension where it must have came from, then, maybe, all would be well. Until then, is fit only for level one felines. «€ Thierry Nguyen PlayStation RATING PURRS The graphics look kind of neat, you get to fight a crazed, golf-club-wielding.Sharon Stone! KITTY LITTER Everything else Pub. EA Games Dev. EA UK ESRB Teen MSRP $39.99 As of 1998, the San Francisco SPCA classifies stray cats into five distinct levels. Level five cats will ferociously attack humans. Level four cats are merely aggressive. Level three cats are typical cats given for adoption. Level two cats are mellow fellows. Level one cats are so timid and slothlike as to appear lobotomized. DOG'S LIFE Most dogs—and some people—are perfectly content with eating, sleeping, and pooping in front of cars, houses, or people. And while you can certainly do that in Dog's Life, there's little more to it. In fact, that's the most entertaining part—you'll have fun for the first few minutes exploring and finding out what sorts of wacky mis- chief Jake the dog can get into. Jake is very well animated, and the game as a whole looks quite a bit nicer in action than you might initially expect. Soon enough, though, the novelty wears off, and you start to realize the incredible tedium involved because the entire game is a fetch quest— with the ultimate goal being to free some bitch (literally) that got picked up by the dogcatchers. "Get me this!" "Go here!" "Don't bite my face!" You'll hear it all as you perform a variety of tasks for people to earn your reward, which comes in the form of a bone. The number of bones you have basically dic- tates which areas you can visit on the jour- ney to find your companion, but it's also a sign of your doggy influerice. If you have more than a particular dog in the neighbor- hood, then you have a better chance of defeating it in one of several minigames. But that's about all there is to this title. Dog lovers will initially get a kick out of Dog's Life, but doing the same thing over and over just doesn't make for a good game. « Giancarlo Varanini PlayStation RATING MAGAZINE PROS It’s a game about dogs, and you can poop on windshields CONS Jake should, have been voiced by Bruce Willis and not this annoying jerk TRY INSTEAD Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch Pub. Hip Interactive Dev. Frontier ESRB Everyone MSRP $19.99 [www.IUP.com] 89 J REVIEWS ler commands. Tar Oeean Til he End oi Tine E Direction | Check Status (Aton Отты 2 `A E ` E ( e М به‎ Witha name like Fayt Leingod с x center), you have to be destined $ А eter: spmesortgf heroics 2: Ф < "> ! Direction WS Check Status Ka Abert бестен mentees ete move ahead with ^ om other RPGs. If only vel up so much. 6 == ‘DIRECTOR'S CUT version of End of Time is basically Japan's director's cut of the game, so ‘expect a blnch of extras such as party members, battle modes, dungeons, and even endings, While the game gives the player a lot to do, some of these extras could have used some polish; the item-invention system is barely explained and will prove baffling to newbies. The extra characters start at low levels, and since only three characters actively level at one time, you tend to use the same three characters throughout the whole game, since it would take too long to level the new ones. i CHARACTERS WITH SOME CHARACTER acting The new Star Ocean aims no less than to define the very universe we're in. Other RPGs might feature massive wars and the destruction of worlds, but Till the End of Time's intergalactic epic actually reveals the nature of our universe. The tasks you carry out include everything from destroying the creator of the universe to helping 15th-cen- tury savages demolish a fully functional alien battleship. To say that it's a hefty RPG is quite the understatement. The Star Ocean franchise is known for its quirky battle system, which Time further refines. Out of three active characters, you directly control one while A.l. controls the other two. Besides watching over your hit: points and magic points, you also have to manage your Fury, which determines what — | you can do and how well you can defend. yourself. The enemies have Fury as well, so in addition to taking their HP or MP down, you have to keep in mind their Fury levels to know whether they can block your attack. Oh, and all this happens in real time. At first, this combat exhilarates, but АЛ. flaws appear soon enough. While you can set the АЛ. to fol- low general behavior, you might find your other characters killing themselves or cow- ering in the corner unless you engage in a fair bit of micromanaging. Fighting also gets frustratingly hard, which annoyingly neces- sitates battles solely for leveling up. The central story combines themes from Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Matrix, all powered by the traditional “young protago- nist discovers his hidden heritage and goes on to defeat the Big Bad” plot. Most of the story grapples with the Prime Directive—er, the "UP3"—once the main characters crash- land on a medieval-era planet and start interfering with local politics. At some point, the game starts to explain the nature of the — universe and breaks into Matrix territory— — with all m of her e technical, and | philosophical gobbledygook thrown at you. The whole story is fairly inter- esting except for the stretched-out middle segment that takes place on a single planet. Most of the game occurs on the medieval world and resembles a cookie- cutter RPG setting, but once you finally get — | off that planet, the game really ramps up. | If Tri-Ace had trimmed the voluminous fat off the middle section of the game and worked on the battle system some more, it would have made an excellent 20-hour RPG out of Time. As it is, though, the game is "merely" a solid 40-plus-hour RPG. But maybe you can enter 4D space and rewrite | the universe itself to create a better, shorter | game, as the characters within eventually do. « Thierry Nguyen. PROS Neat combat system, lots of game, fleshed-out universe with big words CONS Flawed combat A.l., leveling up, boring middle section, needlessly big phrases like “Space-Time Discontinuity Shield” В Teen MSRP $49.99 Pub. Square Enix Dev. Tri-Ace ES [www.lUP.com] 91 ul REVIEWS ALL THE STREET FIGHTER, HALF THE FAT Capcom's done a good job of sucking every last bit of life out of the Street Fighter franchise over the years. Still, fans of the series that revolu- tionized the fighting genre in the early "905 should hold a soft spot in their hearts for Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, which contains not only Street Fighter Ill: 3rd Strike, but also a compilation of the multiple versions of Street Fighter Il. Anniversary is not a compilation in the tradi- tional sense, however. Instead of packaging each title as an individual option, Capcom has combined the old versions of Street Fighter Il into one game, allowing you to select a specific version of a char- acter. For example, the original Street Fighter II version of Ryu can take on the Championship Edi- tion version of Blanka. Fans should also be pleased that the game retains winning poses and similar details for the characters, though all of the back- grounds come from Super Street Fighter Il: Turbo. In some respects, this kind of compilation is better than the alternative since it allows for previ- ously impossible matchups. Plus, it’s really fun to have one version of a character go up against another version of the same character to see who's better. Naturally, some weird balance issues present themselves when pitting an older charac- ter against a more recent counterpart, but anyone intimately familiar with Street Fighter Il shouldn't have any problem dealing with them. Additionally, 92 [OPM September 2004] nes өзөн MT | E. dae the computer only uses the Super Street Fighter Il: Turbo version of each character in single player, so don't plan on honing your skills against characters from any other game when you take on the АЛ. None of this applies to Street Fighter Ill: 3rd Impact, the last game in the Street Fighter II! series and one of the finest 2D fighters to date. Superb animation combines with nearly perfect fighting mechanics, as no particular character is completely dominant over another. 3rd Impact doesn’t have the same type of extras as the Street Fighter II compilation (which has the anime movie and three different types of background music), but it’s still a strong component in an overall great package. << Giancarlo Varanini PlayStation RATING PROS Gives Street Fighter ЇЇ some new life, Street Fighter Ill is great CONS It’s Street Fighter ll—let it die already! Pubs. Capcom Dev. Capcom ESRB Teen MSRP $29.99 Ask one of the guys at your local EB Games store if they have a copy of Power Drome. None of the ones we asked had ever heard of it. Bodes well for any game, really, huh? IF THIS IS THE FUTURE OF RACING, УМ NOT INTERESTED Just about every futuristic racing cliché you can think of appears in Power Drome. Spectacularly overdesigned hoverships? Check. Dudes with shaved heads and goat- ees? Of course! They're futuristic. Rene- gade, ex-military hotshots with bad atti- tudes? Certainly. Robots with attitude? Yup. Some nonsense about intergalactic hege- monies? Would you expect anything less? Power Drome is like the challenged off- spring of WipeOut and Star Wars Racer Revenge. Nowhere near as cool as the for- mer, nor as fast as the latter, it sits in a void of futuristic mediocrity that makes you wonder why Argonaut bothered. It doesn’t offer anything new to the genre, it’s not cheap enough to be considered a bargain- basement alternative to anything, and it has about as much personality as cabbage. For all the talk of “attitude and style” on the back of the box, you'd expect at least some of it to be evident. All the characters have Star Wars names, such as Abel Vorsh or Sun Mateeb, and they're all terribly tal- ented, or tortured, or both, and they all fly ships (very dramatically called "blades") that look like a stealth bomber collided head-on with a Formula 1 car. Gameplay is a bit like flying a jet fighter through a bendy straw. All of the spindly looking ships fly at ludicrous speeds along tracks that are far too narrow to make the gameplay fun. It’s like the really frustrating parts of WipeOut 3 (and there were plenty of them) stuck together in one game, with all the fun weapons taken out. If you bother to get used to the controls, you can eventually run through things pretty smoothly, but...let’s face it—why bother? There are scores of infinitely more interesting racing games on PS2. Pick one of those up instead. << John Davison PlayStation RATING IF it were $15 cheaper THEN the score would be double EITHER WAY it’s not worth it Pub. Mud Duck Dev. Argonaut ESRB Teen MSRP $29.99 Nh. m Not to sound like an infomercial or anything, but $19.99 is an insanely low price for a game like ESPN NFL 2К5, especially when you consider some of the additions that Visual Concepts has made this year. However, it's worth pointing out that most of these new options simply add a layer of polish to preexisting aspects of the game. For instance, in the first-person football mode, you can zoom out and go back to the default view if you're not totally comfortable playing in first person during an important play. Also, in franchise mode, you can select the GameCast Live option if you feel like jumping into a simulated game to save your team from a merciless pounding. That's not all. There are a bunch of other tweaks and relatively minor changes here and there in terms of the gameplay modes. Visual Concepts has integrated all of the online stuff into one area, so if you're a part of an online season, there's no need to go sniffing around an external website to look r ы at stats or find out when your next game GAME ни | THE MONTH 4 starts (but you can if you want to). | Visual Concepts has also ramped up a lot of the ESPN pres- entation elements. You not only get to see a polygonal Chris Berman before the start of the game, but you also get to view moving highlights during the postgame show or the GameCast mode if you have the PS2 hard drive (without it, you'll just get static shots like last year). Also, The Crib returns from last year's game and functions like before, only now you don't just unlock items, you have to use points you've earned to buy them instead. There's some pretty cool stuff in there, » ranging from dartboards and cool little bob- ` . bleheads of star players to posters showcas- ing Chris Berman in all of his jovial glory. You can even unlock video interviews with some of the low-rent celebrities used to showcase the Virtual Identity Profile (conve- niently shortened to VIP) feature. Yes, you too can play against Steve-O or David Arquette! How is this possible, you ask? VIP takes the idea of tracking statistics and play calling to an entirely new level by using that data to construct a virtual profile of yourself, oppo- nents, or anyone else who plays the game. So, when you load up a VIP, it's about as close as you can get to playing against someone without actually playing against him or her. Admittedly, it's pretty cool to see the computer play just as that person would, and it really comes in handy if you want to practice against a specific online opponent, a friend's team, or a celebrity (whom, admittedly, few football fans would OFFICIAL. U.S. PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE Use the VIP feature to finally learn how to use your Bucs to heat your friend's Bears without. actually playing him. [www.lUP.com] 93 REVIEWS IT'S REALLY HARD TO FAULT 2K5 WITH SUCH A LOW PRICE. FIVE WAYS ESPN IS BETTER THAN MADDEN 1. The online seasons blow away Madden's tournament system 2. ESPN integration and presentation 3. Better cut-scenes (including customizable celebra- tions) and player faces...and bouncier cheerleaders 4. Price 5. Yo, VIP—let's kick it 94 [OPM September 2004] FIVE WAYS MADDEN IS BETTER THAN ESPN 1. Storyline Central (including Tony Bruno's radio show, local newspapers, and more) highlights a stronger franchise mode 2. Playmaker control 3. Harder hits 4, Better-looking on-field gameplay 5. More polished gameplay in general Madden NFL 2005. ш" os on) ASR RELIVE IT..SORT OF On paper, the ESPN 25th Anniversary section seems cool. Who wouldn't want to relive some of professional football's greatest moments, like the Immaculate Reception or the Ice Bowl? Unfortunately, it's just not possible to replicate most of these moments, so you have to use other methods that aren't quite as magical. From what we remember, pass interference wasn't called on Joe Montana's touchdown pass to Dwight Clark that sent the 49ers to Super Bowl XVI. VCRELIEAGUE Mannin BOOMER'S СРЕО THE GAME g m Utd zu Aaa Manning: 19/27, 261 yards, 2 TD | actually care about). | It's also a good way to familiarize your- |. self with the gameplay, but if you played the |. last version of ESPN NFL, you shouldn't | | | | B. WESTBROOK ush Chart Att/Yards have any trouble diving right in. The run- ning game is about as balanced as it gets in terms of how star running backs act in the game—none of them will have a |. dominant game if you play smart defense. | Speaking of defense, one of the new fea- | tures included іп 2K5 is the dynamic tackle. | Not entirely unlike Madden's hit stick, this feature allows you to execute a strong, fum- ble-causing hit or a safer wrap tackle. Gen- i à |. erally, it’s just a good idea to go for a basic YouyWon't find better overlay . tackle, especially against some of the graphics than those iñ ZK5. | > | stronger running backs and wide receivers. since they can easily break solo tackles in | the secondary just by simply dropping the ol’ shoulder. | The passing game isn't quite as fine- | tuned because it's almost too easy to exploit certain matchups and use money plays (or plays that are almost guaranteed to get you six or seven yards). Plus, quarterbacks have new evade abilities (like ducking tackles), making it even a little easier to abuse certain plays, particularly during a blitz. o Granted, the money-play problem applies more to А.І. opponents as opposed to |... humans because humans can generally rec- |. ognize the money-play formation and adjust | accordingly, using defensive hot routes. Oth- erwise, it all comes down to calling the right plays and making the right decision when . You have an opponent of equal skill. And |. that's what football should be all about. At any rate, it's really hard to fault 2K5 for any shortcomings with such a low price, |. but regardless, as a football fan, you'll be . getting a great football game. And while | there aren't as many huge additions this |. year as last year, the level of refinement . applied to nearly every facet of the game makes it worth buying. « Giancarlo Varanini DAILYPREPARATION ENT, Nd FILM ROOM WEIGHT TRAINING AEROBIC TRAINING ALTERNATE METHODOLOGY WHAT'S THIS? Нер players hit those areas that 9 confidence in the huddle, The biggest change to franchise mode this year is the pregame preparation (above). Over the course of the week, you can schedule meetings, workouts for specific groups of players, or even some time to look at film. You сап also ramp up rehabilitation for injured players to get them back on the field in time for a big game. At the end of the week, you'll see what kind of effect your decisions had on individual players, as well as overall team morale and focus. It adds a lot of depth to franchise mode, but it almost seems superficial, since you can play just as well by avoiding preparations almost completely. TDS Great-looking game, new animations add excellent realism, VIP feature is pretty fun FUMBLES A good portion of the new stuff is relatively minimal, a few problems with abus- ing money plays ESPN VG Vis. Con. Everyone $19.99 ESPN NFL 25 definitely has one of the most innovative features this year in its VIP system. This is something every other sports game in existence should emulate (although, like with EA's pitch meter in MVP, few will, for fear of look- ing like copycats). And with its price and overall quality, it's hard not to recommend 2K5 as the football game to pick up this year if—and | must stress this—you're just a casual videogame football player who thinks it'd be nice to throw the pigskin around every now and then. | still don’t think the overall gameplay succeeds as much as Madden's does for more hardcore folks, though. If you've got an extra 30 bucks lying around, EA's game is the way to go. Or do yourself a favor and buy both. «« Chris Baker After using the right analog stick's QB evade capability, you, as Steve McNair, are able to escape a sack and tuck and run. [www.lUP.com] 95 jj REVIEWS AIUD ost one oy j te? 96 [OPM September 2004] iii In this European port from Namco, you play as Lazarus Jones, NYPD, who has been sent with his partner to an abandoned school to investigate a routine complaint. After your partner is kidnapped by a crazy spirit, you're tasked by the supercomputer henchman of a professor (don't ask) to get to the bottom of things. Ghosthunter's graphics are quite impres- sive, and you can roam around a nice variety of environments. The atmosphere can be quite spooky, too, as you sneak around the abandoned buildings waiting to see what jumps out at you (do keep in mind, however, that I'm an easy target, so the manly among you might not yelp as much as | did). The plot, sadly, does not fare nearly as well as the graphics. You may prefer to jump past all the cut-scenes, since paying attention won't give you any better idea of what's going on in this non- sensical muddle of a story. Voice acting is decent, and | kind of like the villains—but | hate Lazarus. He's a moron who runs around spouting lines like “Just because you're a ghost doesn't mean you're outside the justice of the NYPD.” By the end of the game, | was rooting for him to die. One unique aspect of Ghosthunter is that portions have you playing as Lazarus' spiri- tual counterpart, Astral. Anytime you hit a summoning circle, you know you'll need Astral's special abilities to open up the next part of the level. She's an interesting con- cept, but for the most part, her existence in the game is pointless. A lot of her help is with actions you've already performed on your own at an earlier point in the game. For example, | got rid of a barricade of tables and chairs with the help of my grenade launcher, but for some reason the next stack of tables and chairs was immune to grenades and required Astral's poltergeist ability in order to be destroyed. Design flaws like this are the game's big downfall. In their attempts to construct a linear path, the developers com- pletely ignored logic. Rather than designing environments that guide you intu- itively, they keep you on track by changing the rules to suit the needs of that moment. Which is why you'll find yourself unable to crawl through empty shelves to reach a door and instead be forced to summon a spirit to knock over the shelves for you. It’s lazy, antiquated design, and in a post-Grand Theft Auto world where gamers expect to be able to interact with and damage the gaming environments, it just doesn’t cut it. Throw in lukewarm АЛ. and some clip- ping problems, and you've got a scary, pretty game that's just not a whole lot of fun to play. « Dana Jongewaard PlayStation RATING | GOOD Nice graphics, scary atmosphere, cool- looking villains BAD Nonsensical story, dumb main character UGLY Lack of gameplay logic Namco Sony Cambridge Mature $49.99 PlayStation RATING BETTER THAN Having to listen to all the No Doubt albums back-to-back WORSE THAN Watching Gwen Stefani in the No Doubt videos Pub. Mud Duck Dev. Argonaut ESRB Teen MSRP $29.99 PROS Very nice atmosphere, a few scary moments, an innovative interface CONS You're just a delivery boy to the lunar afterlife—if you can figure out what to deliver Pub. Agetec Dev. From Software ESRB Teen MSRP $39.99 EVERY GENERATION HAS ITS TRUE CRAP never been this thrillin, Here's the back of the boxed copy of McFarlane Evil Prophecy we received. Ones you see in stores will probably have the typo fixed, but we'd advise you to not even check, as the crap vibes this game eniits could seriously come to ruin the rest of your day. Whereas Beyond features more of a futuristic setting, the original Echo Night (PSI, 1999) took place in the 1930s. Gameplay was fairly similar, though, as you solved simple puzzles to set wandering souls to rest. True story: The first few hundred copies of McFarlane’s Evil Prophecy went out, probably only to folks on Konami's press list, with a typo on the back of the box. Soon enough, l'd find that the typo's very existence exemplifies how much care seemed to go into developing a quality game. “Based on Todd McFarlane's series of Monsters action figures," the early boxes read, "Evil Prophecy sets players on an action-packed adven- ture to hunt down the ? Great Monsters." If you're feeling a little “?” yourself after read- ing that sentence, it seems likely some Konami marketing guy—l'll just assume he's a pimply faced intern named Fred—meant to eventually fill in the question mark with "six" but forgot. I'd like to think, though, that there were possibly a couple other things going through Fred's head when he put it there. First, it's possible that Fred accidentally inserted the question mark to represent the uncertainty lingering in his brain as to—cool-looking short McFarlane cartoon notwithstanding—why the hell anyone would buy this fun-free Dynasty Warriors wannabe. What does it matter that there are six bosses when you're sick of the game by the time you fight the Werewolf in the first level? Or perhaps Fred is cursed with a conscience and felt he had to do something to let consumers know just how crappy Prophecy really is. Some- thing had to symbolize its worthless combos, hor- rible-looking characters, poor level design, inex- cusably low production values (no speech...at all), and absolutely pathetic special attacks that take five seconds to complete. And why on earth would anyone make a four-player beat-em-up that only allows for one player in story mode? Either way, Fred and | both know that Prophecy is one of the worst PS2 games ever. If it has anything going for it, it’s this: Those copies with the typo on them could turn out to be one heck of a collector's item. «€ Chris Baker PlayStation RATING MAGAZINE THE EVIL PROPHECY REVEALED... Well into the year 2004, When the Mummy moans and Dracula soars, Konami will try to make a few bucks, Knowing full well its game totally sucks. Pub, Konami Dev. Konami ESRB Mature MSRP $39.99 [www.IUP.com] 97 REVIEWS John Scalzi OF THE С If you check with a decent dictionary, you'll see that the root of “passion” is “passus,” which is Latin for “to suffer.” Well, indeed, suffer is what Jesus does in The Passion. He's beaten, рит-; meled, scourged, and, of course, eventually ni P. to a cross to die. Anyone who saw how director ceived an NC-17 rating in an instant. But it's clear Mel Gibson handled the more graphic scenes о! А is saying to his audience, "Think this is е ames Caviezel, Braveheart should not have been surprised that 2: har Watch? Imagine what it was like for Him.” Monica Bellucci) the man would dwell on the intense physical рай he film is that it’s an Jesus indisputably underwent in his last fe he life and events of Jesus of life. Gibson's got an eye for it—a feel a feel for making you feel it, He wants you to - only film to у бее оће life’ of Jesus (also, | under- feel Jesus’ passion, and just in t that let 2 stand there's a related book that might be useful hug-and-play-guitar church camp sort of wat . n't the Biblical story of Jesus’ | say: Right on, Mel. Everyone Christian ds — death. It’s Gibson's, and it comes loaded with the Jesus died for his or her sins, but until various filmed interpretations of per Earth have largely glossed over or sped ugh — the part of the story where Jesus gets the crap . man's own tics and twitches and prejudices, and Gibson is famously not politically correct. I've always said only a fool gets his history from film— ' it seems а bad way to get one's religion as well. P kicked out of him. Because, you know, that’s not Having said that, this is an important film about К. very nice. And so a critical aspect of the Christ one of the most important people who ever lived. „+ + tale—possibly the critical aspect, given Jesus’ dual It's hard to take, but when you're talking about nature—has never been well-represented in this, things like God, sin, suffering, and redemption, the most visceral of artistic media. Whatever other honestly, how easy should it be? That's the ques- K flaws Gibson’s film has, one thing it does is act as tion this film asks. You get to answer. a corrective to this oversight: There’s no doubt [ITI that in addition to being Christ, the divine, this 98 [OPM September 2004] х (Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins) A stinky 1979 piece of Disney space cheese that was also the company's first non-G movie (proba- bly PG for the part where Anthony Perkins gets shredded by a homicidal robot). Its "mad scientist j in space" plot is bad—really bad—and clearly an ; attempt to cash in on the Star Wars craze, right 1 down to the fey robot (V.I.N.CENT, floating about + like C-3PO's tubby cousin). Turn off the sound, however, and you'll be struck at how beautiful the film is, even 25 years later—it was nominated for a cinematography Oscar. It's also got a fine score by John Barry. So, for total crap, it's decent. ee | U Cm (Elisha Cuthbert, James Remar, Emile Hirsch) A smudged, third-generation photocopy of Risky Business in which a dork (Hirsch) gets turned on by his superhot new neighbor (Cuthbert), who just happens to be a former porn star. Leaving aside the issue that the film wants to have it both } ways—it wants to thrill you with the idea of a pro- : fessional hump bunny living next door while also | vaguely hinting that boinking is no way to make a +-living—the humor here is limp, and the film as a whole just can’t get it up. This is a teen comedy in need of its very own fluffer. And there’s an image you'll carry with you to your grave. (Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams) There are many unanswered questions in the uni- verse, lots involving God or fate or the composi- tion of potted meat food products. But one of the more recent is this: Why is Cedric the Entertainer, so good in the Barbershops, channeling Chevy Chase in Johnson Family Vacation? Wasn't the first Chevy enough? Given the whole channeling thing, it’s not too surprising Vacation plays like Chase's various Vacations, with an African-Ameri- can overlay. So if you like those, you'll like this. But Cedric, really: Find another role model. Fast. (Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) | don’t believe this still needs to be said: When a sinister-looking Robert De Niro comes up to you and offers you something—say, the chance to clone your dead child—run the other way. And don't look back. Because if you don't run, among other things, you'll be trapped in a very silly movie in which the cloned child suddenly sprouts Omen- like tendencies, and no matter how good of an actor you are, you'll simply look foolish. This is one of those movies that requires everyone in it— and everyone watching—to be a bit of an idiot in order to be surprised at what comes next. (David Hasselhoff, Edward Mulhare) Man drives around in a fussy-talking Pontiac, ° solving idiotic crimes because he apparently has nothing better to do. This stretched on for five seasons, and | have to admit that my stupid preadolescent self is partly to blame. Yes, | avidly watched Knight Rider and by extension am com- plicit in enabling Hasselhoff to go on to German pop stardom and Baywatch. Honestly, I’m sorry. | was young and stupid. It'll never happen again, | swear. Also, sorry for Family Ties and at least four seasons of The X-Files. My bad. (17 13 Going on 30' The Black Ноје Elvis movies (6) Gidget: Movie Collection Hidalgo Jack Knight Rider: Season 1 The Princess Diaries SE Sliders: Seasons1& 2 ALF: Season] Bill Cosby: Himself Good Times: Season 3 Highlander: Season 5 Johnson Family Vacation Kill Bill Vol. 2 Late Night lOth Anniversary Late Night: Best of Triumph Predator: Collector's Edition Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 1 Babylon 5: Movie Collection Godsend GoodFellas The Guyver1&2 The Apprentice: Season 1 Boy Meets World: Season 1 Dallas: Seasons1&2 Ella Enchanted Futurama: Season 4 The Girl Next Door Godzilla: The Series Purple Rain SE Chris Rock: Never Scared Jesus Christ Superstar SE The Lion King2 The Passion of the Christ Slacker South Park: The Passion of the Jew Star Trek: Season 1 Trekkies 2 VOL. 2 (Uma Thurman, David Carradine) Kill Bill Vol. 1 was like a speed rush of bloody, messy, basically adolescent fun, and everybody loved it. But longtime Quentin Tarantino fans couldn't help but notice that once you got past the action, there wasn't much there there: It lacked the soul that was at the center of Tarantino's other work, even at its most violent. Where is the soul? Why, it's in Vol. 2—remember, these were origi- nally thought of as one long film—and Tarantino finesses it beautifully, giving both Thurman's vengeful almost-mother and Carradine's weary assassin a grounding in realty (no small feat, given the over-the-top nature of this flick). After years away, it's grand to see that Tarantino hasn't lost his touch and that his love of pop-culture over- load hasn't yet overwhelmed his ability to racters matter. (Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif) It's about the relationship between a man and his horse (and why don’t you slap yourself for that thought you just had, you sick twist). This is an old-fashioned adventure, good-natured and a tiny bit stuffy, but | mean that in a nice way. Mortensen is a suitably conflicted half-breed cow- boy competing in a race across 3,000 miles of Sahara to prove his worth and the worth of his trusted steed. It's got lots of action, a nifty sand- storm, and Mortensen himself, who rather handily answers the question of whether he'll be able to get past that whole Aragorn thing. o00 (Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo) Given that nearly every single person is at their worst when they are 13, why would anyone think a grown woman acting that age is somehow cute? This question kept nagging me through 13 Going on 30, and while there’s something fasci- nating about watching a hot, hot woman like Jen- nifer Garner skip around like a tweener, it’s also, you know, really creepy. Perhaps I’ve dwelled on this aspect of the film.too much. To be fair, | found Big kind of creepy, too. At least my twitchi- ness about age-switchin’ adults is gender neutral. [www.IUP.com] 99 TECHNOLOGY EVENT of the YEAR | NEW YORK CITY | OCT. 14-17 the latest games... hottest music players... coolest digital cameras... slickest PCs... trendiest mobility gadgets... wireless networking... and much more... -— Get tickets today: October 14 - 17 Jacob К. Javits Convention Center www.digitallife.com New York, New York digitalit PRESENTING SPONSORS: &) FUJIFILM Microsoft (@ mororora TOSHIBA OFFICIAL GAMING SPONSOR Partners: Sponsors: LEXMARK ‚РАБ ВТАСКВЕННҮ еі KONICA MINOLTA a kill. / PS2 TRICKS AND REVIEW ARCHIVE Game names in indicate a Greatest Hits title. Ratings in red indicate a score of 5 out of 5. 4 indicates the game supports online play. GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE shack//INFECTION Bandai 65 -hack//MUTATION Bandai -hack//OUTBREAK Bandai -hack//QUARANTINE Bandai 18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker Acclaim 4x4 EVO GOD Games 2002 FIFA World Cup -— — EASports Activision Anthology Activision Aero Elite: Combat Academy Sega The Adventures of Cookie & Cream Agetec Aggressive Inline Acclaim Airblade Namco Airforce Delta Strike Konami Alias Acclaim Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction EA Games All-Star Baseball 2002 Acclaim All-Star Baseball 2003 Acclaim All-Star Baseball 2004 Acclaim # All-Star Baseball 2005 Acclaim Alter Echo THQ American idol _ Codemasters f Amplitude А Sony CEA Antz Extreme Racing Empire Ape Escape 2 Ubisoft Aqua Aqua 300 Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits Sony CEA Arctic Thunder Midway @ Armored Core 2 Agetec ‘Armored Core 2: Another Age Agetec Armored Core 3 Agetec @@@4 Army Men: Air Attack 300 eee« Army Men: Green Rogue — 30 Army Men RTS: 300 Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 | 300 Athens2004 Sony CEA ATV Quad Power Racing2 Acclaim # Auto Modellista Capcom Backyard Baseball Atari Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home Eidos Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance I Interplay Barbarian Titus Bass Strike Virtual Fishing Tournament Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Batman: Vengeance Battle Engine Aquila _ _ Battlestar Galactica Vivendi Universal Beyond Good & Evil .— Ubisoft Big Mutha Truckers __ Empire Bionicle: The Game EA Games Black & Bruised Majesco Blade ll Activision Blood Omen 2 Eidos BloodRayne Majesco ® xi RE: Bloody Roar 3 Activision Bloody Roar 4 Konami € Blowout Majesco ® BMX XXX Acclaim Bombastic Capcom Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter Capcom Britney's Dance Beat | THQ The Bouncer Square EA Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds — Sierra/Fox Bujingai: The Forsaken City Bam Burnout Acclaim Burnout 2: Point of Impact Acclaim JA REPLAY DRIVSR ALL THE TIMMIES, ALL THE SECRET CARS, AND EVERY LANDMARK TIMMY #5 104 [OPM September 2004] TIMMY #8 TIMMY #6 CENTRAL FREEWAYS CALITA'SMOTEL MIAMIRIVER ARMORY TIMMIES #1 House opposite Tanner's apartment #2 Northeast floating home's planked-off section in Stiltsville #3 Dirty Dick's boathouse #4 End of alley in southwest downtown, near river #5 Garage marked "AT" in Coral Gables #6 Tico's site, on half-built home's upper level #7 Water treatment facility's go-kart track gate Switch #8 House south of running track #9 Under upper stands at Orange Bowl alcove #10 Elevator at top of Gold Coast Hotel Go-kart track's pits FREEDOM TOWER: MONORAIL TIMMY #3 INTERCOASTAL WATERWAY is) ISLAND. SAN MARINO. ISLAND. SAN MARCO ISLAND. WATSON ISLAND STAR a ISLAND SAFE HOUSE CAFE IREHOUSE ае MARINA BISCAYNE AND ES pocs АМО STILTSVILLE TANNER'S APARTMENT Alley between warehouse buildings near river and boat moorings Star Island home's garage ARMORY Backyard of ranch house near corner of road leading to Biltmore Hotel, opposite water tower LANDMARKS 1 Orange Bowl 2 Biltmore Hotel 3 Water Treatment Facility 4 Go-Kart Track 5 Red River Bar 6 Calita's Motel 18] POLICE STATION Мам! CITY HALE 7 Monorail 8 Freedom Tower 9 House of Rock Café 10 Gator's Boathouse п Mortain Mall T2 Calita's Safe House 13 Gator's Warehouse 14 Docks 15 Stiltsville 16 Marina 17 Tanner's Apartment 18 Police Station 19 City Hall 20 Gold Coast Hotel 21 Fontainebleau Hotel 22 Art Deco District 23 Gator's Yacht CHATEAU GRIMALDI » ‘SAINT-AUGUSTINE CARRAS SAINT LAURENT- AUGUSTIN DU-VAR WAREHOUSE. 1 Warehouse off Rue des Vespins North bank of river on the north side of airport Top of airport tower Saint Nicholas Cathedrale Russe 5 Lower floor of set of buildings you can drive across Bandstand at Vieille Ville park hill 7 Rauba Capeu lighthouse Stunt land quarry's west dirt ramp Cave near Pt. Pilone Transport compound by corner hut SECRET CARS A CAMPER VAN Garage at Chateau Grimaldi hill's peak SAINT-ANTOINE CARSHOW SAINT NICHOLAS CATHEDRALE RUSSE ® б Brom HOTEL мов NECRESCO: B DOLCH SCHUB Fire station at Aeroport De Nice-Cóte d'Azur C FORKLIFT TRUCK Garage at Chapel de St. Hospice ARMORY Medieval great room at front of fortress on moun- tain road to Fort Alban LANDMARKS 1 Chateau Grimaldi 2 Warehouse 3 Mall 4 Saint Nicholas Cathedrale Russe 5 Hotel Negresco 6 Station la Gare 7 Car Showroom RESTAURANT, ARMORY 12] REGINA PALACE Е %сороцс D ‘MUSE D'ART MODERNE IE) carne садівлши Oto TOWN. CHURCH 72 m © PALAIS an. { MT. ALBAN Wî BORON CAPDENICE 8 Restaurant 9 Palais de Justice 10 Old Town Church Tl Customs Yard 12 Regina Palace 13 Acropolis 14 Muse d'Art Moderne 15 Theatre Garibaldi 16 Fort Alban 17 Citadelle FORT ALBAN ‘SAFE HOUSE CITADELLE РТ. TALON NOUVEAU TRANSPORT COMPOUND. PORT [www.lUP.com] 105 БЕШ KURTULUS HALICIOGLU B {NOND, RM STADIUM. NIGHTCLUB] DOMABAHCE ПАЈЕ н oat 2) Palate MONORAIL BEYOGLU EAST FAITH M X at CALATATOWER - ree j BOSPHORUS KARAKOY ' SEHZADEBASI pe EMINONÜ WAREHOUSE KUCUKPAZAR. AQUEDUCT [7 БМ EE TANNER'S HOTEL. AKSARY, MARMARA INTERCHANGE Ж SARACHANE апе s UNIVERS SEHZADO R RY PALACE ‘MOSQUE a ty TOPKAPI PALACE 4 CITY WALLS DES. * SERAGLIO ВЕҮА2 ‘SUBTERRANEAN FONT IT CISTERN ВАСА. IE SAFE HOUSE CYM TURKISH а пој = BATHS Suy TRAIN YARD ‘SULTANHAMET ISTANBUL 1 Е - CA LANDMARKS Fire escape entrance, upstairs in bomb \ SPEEDSTER 1 Suzer Plaza truck warehouse Main train warehouse shed 2 Nightclub ightclub manager's office ROADSTER (BU T 3 Dolmbahce Palace #3 Decaying train yard's signal box Red cargo container opposite building "Kamsa" 4 Galata Tower + End of dead-end alleyway, around houses RACER G 5 Tanner's Hotel Turkish baths' basement Middle building at old industrial park 6 Grand Bazaar Safe house gym's third floor 7 Sirkeci Railway Station Under bridge in second blue shop-front ARMORY 8 Train Yard passage, south of bridge entrance Stone house with cow skull above a brown door, 9 Turkish Baths 3 Subterranean cistern's far corner to the right of small, open area 10 Safe House Gym 9 Hut at Halic River docks 9 Negatibey Road river warehouses 106 [OPM September 2004] STATION - MUSIC FROM THE DRIV3R SOUNDTRACK BellNays If the world were an RPG, Meet © the BellRays would be a +2 CD of coolness—a CD whose mere ака presence in your collection would make you appear far more hip to others than you really are. And you'll look even better playing it. It’s a riotous mash-up of Detroit-style rock (think Iggy & the Stooges, whom we'll get to in a minute) and soulful singer Lisa Kekaula, whose voice triangulates between Aretha Franklin's, Janis Joplin's, and Joan Armatrading's. If this rock 'n' roll doesn't knock you back off your heels, you must have already been lying down. Trust me, you want to be the first kid on your block to get this one. Note: Meet is an import CD that collects tracks from two BellRays CDs: Grand Fury and Let It Blast. It'd cost you as much to import Meet as to get both those CDs off Amazon. So that’s a hint. My, what a miserable bunch P these guys are. “The world is ] so unkind," they mope on in M "Lucifer," the shortest song, at R almost six minutes, which comes complete with flutes to go with all its other drones. Yes, Los Halos, your life is much worse than that of an Iragi orphan's. This EP is sort of like what you would get if you were a Sonic Youth and Cure fan but couldn’t decide whom you wanted to worship more with your own band—and you learned mostly the wrong lessons from each group. What you get is an EP full of whining, droning, repetitious songs that go on well past the point of sensibility. These guys need to tighten up and/or cheer up. ee Ah, here we are: The original World's Forgotten Boy. The Y rumor is that when David w Bowie was producing Raw Power, he thought the album should actually hurt the listener when it blasted out of the speakers. Well, 30 years later, it sure doesn’t hurt, but it does snarl, writhe, wail, and wallow in feculence as much as it ever did. Iggy Pop is the smack: encrusted lead singer whom Jim Morrison never had the guts to be (and he survived, to boot!), and when he's grinding through "Search and Destroy" and "Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell,” you hear the sort of rock ‘n’ roll presence that so many others have tried and failed to achieve. You can't fake it. Iggy & the Stooges never did. This is some reasonably catchy guitar-pop tunage from reason ably talented musicians who seem to be having fun making noise that you can move to. This album's got two tunes that go out of their way to catch your ear (“After Hours" and "The Happy Ending"), and the rest loiter around like bland but attractive hangers- on at a pretty decent celebrity afterparty. This is to say you won't remember any of them specifically, but in the aggregate, you remember it was all a pretty good way to waste your time one evening. What more do you want out of your summer, anyway? ee m i last year as one of the hip new if К bands that all the kids would STER be talking about, but now it's 2004, and | don't hear any of the kids talking about them. Why? Well, because they suck, that's why. Whip It On has eight songs, each of which sounds exactly like the others: A bored-sounding female singer slacks through her lyrics, while repetitive guitar work and beats slam away in the background. Basically, this would be what the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would sound like if each member were trepanned and had their frontal lobes vigorously scraped. | don’t know why you would want that. The Raveonettes were touted FINDING DRIV3R TUNAGE MELLOWDRONE шоре cdeurope.com PHANTOM PLANET amazon.com тһарѕоду.сот es apple.com/itunes IGGY & THE STOOGES THE RAVEONETTES SLO-MO SYNTAX OKUNIEV www.okuniev.com TEDDYBEARS STHLM NARCO www.narcomusic.co.uk/ LOS HALOS cdbaby.com STATELESS THE BELLRAYS HOPE OF THE STATES САМЕ PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE Butt-Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom! Cabela's Big Game Hunter Cabela's Dangerous Hunts Cabela's Deer Hunt 2004 Season Capcom vs. SNK 2 Crave Фе 75 Activision @@4 67 Activision 76 Activision 74 Capcom 51 Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums Bam 7 CART Fury Casper: Spirit Dimensions Castlevania: Lament of Innocence The Cat in the Hat # Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest. Chaos Legion # Chessmaster Choplifter: Crisis Shield City Crisis Clock Tower 3 Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers Commandos 2: Men of Courage Conflict: Desert Storm || Conflict Zone Contra: Shattered Soldier Corvette Cool Boarders 2001 Crash Nitro Kart Crimson Sea 2 Crimson Tears Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Culdcept Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse Dark Cloud 2 Dark Summit DDRMAX DDRMAX2 Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore Def Jam Vendetta. Defender # Destruction Derby Arenas Deus Ex: The Conspiracy Devil May Cry 2 Dino Stalker Disaster Report Disgaea: Hour of Darkness Disney Golf Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure Disney's PK: Out of the Shadows Disney's Treasure Planet Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers Downforce Downhill Domination Dr. Muto Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Dragon Rage Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates Drakengard Driven Driving Emotion Type-S Drome Racers Dropship Dual Hearts Midway Ф 47 ТОК Mediactive 50 Konami 74 Vivendi Universal 76 Sony Online 78 Capcom 70 Ubisoft 70 Xicat 69 Take-Two ӨФӨ 48 Сарсот 68 Acclaim 83 Eidos ФФ — 62 Gotham Games 7а Ubisoft 63 Konam 64 Global Star 8 Sony CEA 46 Vivendi Universal 76 Кое 80 Сарсот 83 Ubisoft 74 SNK 5 Metro3D @4 Gathering Eidos Capcom Capcom Agetec Atlus EA Games Activision Ubisoft Sony CEA Ubisoft Titus Sony CEA Midway Atari Atari 300 Sony СЕА Square Enix USA Bam 52 Square EA 4 EA Games 64 Bam Atlus eee 6l [www.lUP.com] 107 with that stereo hookup? Can't fig- e out which televi- sion to buy? Then e- mail our resident expert Darren Glad- stone at witha subject line of me Pad." You want a brand-new, paper-thin television. You can’t afford one, but that doesn’t stop you from walking into Best Buy every week- end and weeping openly in the TV section. But every fall there’s hope. Most new TV sets get introduced late in the year, and this means good bargains are available now. Sure, you can sink money into the hottest, newest LCDs on the block. But why not save hundreds of dollars instead? Great models are already available, and at this time of year you'll see lots of price drops on last year's TVs. Whether you choose last year's model or the newest gear, now is the time to buy. Of course, we don't want to mislead you into thinking that these sets are perfect. As in life, there are pros and cons to everything. Our advice: Rip out these pages, bring along your PS2, and test out the sets in the store so you can see which one works best for you. THE PROS STYLE There's something to be said for a 2-inch- thick TV that looks good even turned off. This will, after all, be the centerpiece of your home theater. These sets are also mercifully light com- pared to plasma TVs. NO BURN-IN This used to be the biggest sell- ing point for buying an LCD set over a plasma one. With current developments, though, burn-in is almost a nonissue with the most recent plasmas. LONGER LIFE Since most thin TVs haven't logged enough mileage in the real world, we can't declare a winner for reliability. For now, though, it's a numbers game, and those numbers say that LCDs last 50,000 to 60,000 hours—years longer than plasma TVs. VERY BRIGHT PICTURE LCD sets generally have brighter picture quality than plasma TVs, so if you're camping out in a sunny room, this'll be the better choice for you. BUZZ OFF If you live 6,500 feet above sea level, plasma TVs are the bane of your existence. At high altitudes, the gas inside plasma screens is at a different pressure than the outside air, which causes a buzzing sound. E CONS SIZE MATTERS LCD technology may be improv- ing, but you still can’t get that big, fat screen available with a plasma TV. Direct-view panels are as tiny as 13 inches and get as big as 40 inches (well, 46-inch ones are coming out, but you get the idea). Not bad, mind you—but we want more! Rear-projection LCD sets are thicker, but at least they can get as large as 60 inches. PAINT IT BLACK One critique of LCD panels is that their black levels are a little off. This means that any game that has you lurking in the shad- ows might be difficult to see. Black levels vary by SONY KDF- 60XBR950 $5,500, 60-INCH, REAR PROJECTION When you buy a Sony, you're not just buying picture quality—you're also paying for style. It's solid but pricey performer. PC TU WELCOME TO YOUR NEW COMPUTER ROOM Got a PC in your house? Now put one in your living room, Direct-view LCD sets can double as computer monitors. We've been testing out Dell's W line, and the W3000 30-inch LCD TV works great and has a reason- ably crisp widescreen picture. It's also a good deal, con- sidering that this hybrid goes for about $2,700. The only problem with setting this up in any living room: ergonomics. You'll need a wireless keyboard and mouse. Our pick for livin’ in high style is Logitech’s diNovo Media Desktop, which runs about $400. For useful tips on ergonomics, go to ergo.human.cornell.edu, set (rear projection sets a little more so), so make sure to check this out in the store. SMEAR CAMPAIGN Lackluster refresh rates can be a pain. If you're playing fast-motion games like Burnout 3, there could be extra blurring and color smearing on some sets. EXPENSIVE AS HELL These sets just don't come cheap, but prices are dropping. For instance, two years ago, most 30-inch LCD TVs cost around $8,000. Now, similar sets are available for less than half that amount. LCDs should get into reasonable price ranges in another year or two. < Darren Gladstone $3,500, 30-INCH, DIRECT VIEW This TV is awesome because of its great game-playing perform- ance and, well, sharp image. And the best part? The price has dropped a grand since it came out. $3,300, 50-INCH, REAR PROJECTION It may not floss the style of some of the other guys here, but this box rocks the block with great picture quality. $6,000, 32-INCH, DIRECT VIEW To see this stylish glass- encrusted case is to want it. The only catch is that a pro's touch is required to calibrate it for best performance. But with looks like this, it's easy not to care about that. $10,000, 46-INCH, DIRECT VIEW This is the newest, largest kid on the direct-view block, and we had to include it here. The thing that makes us say, "Holy crap!" here is that it supports 1080p. That isn’t a typo—1080p for a ridiculously sharp picture. Now we just need games that support it. GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE Dynasty Tactics Dynasty Tactics 2 Dynasty Warriors 2 Dynasty Warriors 3 Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends Dynasty Warriors 4 Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness eJay Clubworld Endgame Enter the Matrix Ephemeral Fantasia ESPN College Hoops ESPN International Track & Field ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 / ESPN Major League Baseball ESPN MLS Extra Time ESPN National Hockey Night ESPN! ESPN ight 2 ESPN NHL Hockey ESPN NFL Football ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding 2002 ESPN X Games Skateboarding Eternal Ring Eve of Extinction Everblue 2 Evergrace ____ EverQuest Online Adventures $ EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick Evil Twin Evolution Skateboarding Evolution Snowboarding Extermination Extreme-G lll EyeToy: Groove #12002 — FI Championship FI Championship Season 2000 Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Fantavision FatalFrame OOOO Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Ferrari F355 Challenge FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer FIFA2002 £ Fight Night 2004, Koei Koei 9990 74 Koi 866% 38 Koei 52 Koei 65 Koei 00004 68 Koei êê 75 Acclaim 56 Кето 99€ | 6I Crave 3 Empire 59 n 49 Sega Sports 76 Konami 39 Konami ФФФӘ 54 Sega Sports 6994 80 Konami 44 Konami 45 Konami өө 42 Konami @@® _ 56 Sega Sports 69994. 73 Sega Sports 72 Konami 4 Konami 53 Konami @@@® — 49 Agetec 38 Eidos 56 Capcom 999 — 66 Agetec 88 39 Sony Online 66 Sony Onlin 7 THQ 70 Ubisoft 52 Konami 63 Konami 65 Sony CEA @@€ — 48 Acclaim 50 Sony CEA Ф®ӨӨ« 80 _ EA Sports 60 Ubisoft ee e 43 EA Sports $94 4 Interplay 884 1 78 Sony CEA @@@® 40 Tecmo 999€ |55 Tecmo 9999 77 Sega 6l EA Sports 00004 39 EA Sports 51 EA Sports @@@® 50 The EA cover curse has now moved from football to boxing, as Antonio Tarver will testify to after knocking Roy Jones Jr. into the middle of next week. No matter—we've got a host of codes for this game, includ- ing the obligatory "big head" code. Allvenues At the Main menu, highlight My Corner and press Big heads At the Main menu, highlight My Corner and press de tm mm Big Tigger In the Record Book menu, go to Most Wins and press tt, t Small fighters At the Main menu, highlight Play Now and press +, ">, + Fighter Maker 2 Finding Nemo THQ өөө | 7 Fireblade Midway 59 Fisherman's Challenge Konami @@ — 67 Ford Racing 2 Gotham Games 4 76 Forever Kingdom Formula One 2001 Freaky Flyers [www.IUP.com] 109 JA REPLAY NCAA FOOTBALL 2005 COMMENTATORS LEE CORSO AND KIRK HERBSTREIT TALK COLLEGE FOOTBALL WITH US OPM If | want to destroy everyone in NCAA Football 2005, what are the teams | should pick? KIRK HERBSTREIT It's the usual, isn’t it? USC, LSU, Oklahoma...Florida State...Georgia. | think it’s pretty early to figure out who are the hidden gems. Lee probably won't say, but | think Florida State could be pretty good this year. LEE CORSO From a coach's standpoint, | don't think you really know until after the first game. There are so many intangibles. There might be a freshman who comes out of nowhere and then all of a sudden—boom!—becomes a great player. Also, how many kids get hurt in the preseason. | would say after the first week, you can pretty much tell who the good teams are. OPM Crowd noise is a big factor in NCAA 2005. What would you say the loudest stadiums are? LC | think Autzen Stadium. Per person, the Ore- gon stadium is the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. The fact that it's so low to the ground doesn't allow the sound to escape. Michigan's stadium is not very loud because the sound goes right out. MORE TO COME Keep your eyes open for the entire intervie Au lUP.com. KH | would say No. 1 for me is The Swamp, ever since they've renovated the stadium. We went to last year's Florida-Florida State game, and | don't think l've been to a louder stadium since. They get their student body right there behind the visitor, and the crowd noise stays in that stadium. по [OPM September 2004] Kirk Herbstreit (right) just has to wonder what the hell Lee Corso (left) is thinking sometimes every fall. Saturday on ESPN'S College Gameday. OPM In last year's game, EA had planned for us to see goalposts come down after a home upset victory, but the NCAA nixed that at the last minute. What do you think of that? LC | don't agree with them—l think that that's all part of the game of football and the excitement. Rarely does a person get hurt tearing down the goalposts. It's what happens after that that they can't control, and that's the partying and drinking, and it's usually happening outside the stadium. KH You're better off not trying to stop 'em. Just let 'em come out and get it over with. “AT EVERY SINGLE COLLEGE CAMPUS WE GO TO, THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO ` TALK TO US ABOUT PLAYING THE GAME." OPM so Kirk, how different do you see Madden and NCAA as videogames? KH | think the only difference is the play calling. As far as the game experience, it’s just your pref- erence of style of football. There’s more to offer the college football fan with our game. OPM Lee, what do you think of the NCAA game from what you've seen of it? LC i think it’s wonderful—l'd love to be able to play it! | mean, | have never played it, but | love watching Kirk play. At every single college campus we go to, there are thousands of people who talk to us about playing the game. [In a mock crying voice] And I'd just like once to be able to play it myself. Guys at the campuses will come up and challenge Kirk. "C'mon, let's play!” KH The players wanna play everywhere we go. OPM So Kirk, do you usually beat ‘em? КН Uhh...you know what? Now that | have three kids, my game reps have been diminished. | hold my own. l'm like the Little Engine That Could. These guys are all throwin’ the ball all over the place, and I'm still establishing the run and play- ing good defense—like my Big Ten background. | typically make a good game out of it. OPM Yeah, | can buy the kid excuse. How does doing voiceover work for the fourth time compare with doing it for the first time three games ago? KH We have so much fun doing it, we kind of get caught up in it. People think, “How boring is it just to keep reading all those lines?" But because we're doing it together, we don't neces- sarily look at it as, "Man, we're just reading lines..." We kind of try to, believe it or not, play along and get into character and act like we're really doing а game. LC | think you've gotta give [credit to] the people that write it. It's really scary how similar it is to what we really talk like. They do a great job of placing our personalities into words. KH Yeah, | think they study the tapes from the Thursday night games that we do and come up with some things that we've actually said. OPM Do you do much ad-libbing? LC Oh, yeah. Especially on the sound effects— that's my favorite. [laughs] OPM Sega has the ESPN license. Does it feel weird working for a competitor for this game? LC You know what, I’m gonna give you ту agent's number! [laughs] KH | think we were just excited to be involved with EA and to be involved with the game. | love ESPN- love working at ESPN—and | respect what they're trying to do with their videogames. But as a gamer myself, the fact that! hada — chance to be involved with a game that | was. already playing had probably as much to do with my enthusiasm as anything. LC When they called me about doing this, they told me that this was going to be a first-class, major-league thing and that they'd like to have my name put on it. And that was all | needed. OPM Does Chris Fowler ever feel left out? [Three-second pause] LC Notice the silence. KH You know what? Lee and | are independent contractors for ESPN; Chris Fowler is a full- fledged ESPN employee. So he’s out of the mix, unfortunately for him. «€ Photo by Getty Images. NCAA REPLAY USING THE NEW ADVANTAGES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE How can | best use the home-field advantage? The quarterback is the only position player on offense who handles the ball on every snap, so it makes perfect sense to focus your pressure on the quarterback. After two unsuccessful running plays, the Nebraska quarterback faces third and goal against a tough Tennessee defense and an even tougher Tennessee crowd at Neyland Stadium. As the quarterback calls the signals, our Tennessee linebacker works the crowd into a fever pitch, maxing out the Stadium Pulse meter. From the 4-3 defense, we call the Thunder Green, a blitz package that sends two lineback- ers up the middle. The Nebraska five-man front cannot handle the pressure, and both linebackers close in on the quarterback. With the crowd screaming and a couple of 250-pounders bearing down on him, the Nebraska quarterback gets happy feet and bolts from the pocket. Note: It is possible for the Stadium Pulse meter to reach maximum level without a defensive player inciting the crowd. However, if the fans are a little subdued after a couple of successful plays by the offense, it is important to pump up the crowd to get them back in the game. The blitzing linebackers and a noisy crowd force the quarterback into making an errant throw. It is possible for the crowd noise alone to upset an inexperienced quarterback (see the matchup stick section below), but a veteran will be able to block out the noise and make a good decision. This is why a strong pass rush is critical in pressure situations. Another important way to utilize your home- field advantage is to try to strip the ball from kickoff and punt returners. As your coverage team closes in on the return man, switch to the closest defender and then hit the Strip button just as you make contact. The crowd is usually noisy on kicks, increasing the chance for jangled nerves, which contributes to a fumble. What's the best way to use the matchup stick? The matchup stick lets you check receivers ver- sus secondary, offensive line versus defensive line, and backfield versus linebackers. All matchups are important, but deficiencies in pass coverage are the easiest and most productive to exploit. Using the matchup Stick before the snap, we see a strong Nebraska secondary except for the cornerback playing opposite our tight slot receiver on the right. Not only is he a bad player (red bar), but he's also rat- tled (black circle). Our receiver gets inside the defender and makes an easy reception. What do І do when I'm overmatched? If you want to put your football skills to the test, try taking a Division 1-AA team such as Grambling State against the Division 1-A powerhouse USC. You'll be overmatched on offense and defense, but no matter how tough an opponent is, the opposing defense must still cover the entire field. On offense, you can expect a brutal pass rush, so your quarterback will have precious few seconds to complete a pass. However, this doesn’t suggest you should never call a long pass play. On the contrary, sending your receivers deep clears out the short zones, and if you can avoid the rush, you should find open receivers underneath the coverage. The PA Cross Post pic- tured above begins with a play-action fake that freezes the linebackers. While the wide receivers run deep crossing patterns, the halfback sneaks out of the backfield and runs across the field to the sideline. Release the ball as soon as he makes his break from the linebacker for a high-percent- age completion. This type of passing play will let you move the ball against an aggressive and tal- ented defense. A few completions underneath forces the defense to play more man coverage, which in turn presents opportunities to go deep. On defense, you need to strike a balance between defending the run and the Pass, which means calling mostly combination zone/man or zone defenses. Blitz with extreme caution against a superb passing attack such as USC's because you open yourself up to single cov- erage, which usually produces an easy touchdown for an alert quarterback. Instead of straight man defense, try the 4-3 Cover 2 Man. This is a good first- or second-down defense that protects against the run, as well as the long and short pass. On this play, the deep zone defenders force the quarter- back to look underneath, where the linebackers are flooding the field with man coverage. When the offense faces third and long, keep your four- man rush, but go to a nickel or dime zone defense to create more double-team situations. Freestyle Metal X Frequency Frogger: The Great Quest Frogger's Adventure: The Rescue 7 YY Front Mission 4 _ Fugitive Hunter Encore Funkmaster Flex’s Digital Hitz Factory XS Games Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge Acclaim Square Enix Futurama Vivendi Universal 7 COMPLEX Future Tactics: The Uprising Crave 8 GAMEPLAY Gl Jockey 3 Koei 69 “If sorting through dull management screens for 20 or 30 minutes as. you strategize between each battle isn’t your idea of fun, then this is Gadget Racers Conspiracy Galactic Wrestling Featuring Ultimate Muscle Bandai Galerians: Ash Gallop Racer Gallop Racer 2003: А New Breed Gauntlet: Dark Legacy The Getaway Sony CEA Giants: Citizen Kabuto Interplay Gitaroo-Man Koei Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance Acclaim Gladius LucasArts Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Jaleco GoDai: Elemental Force 300 Gradius Ill and IV by no means the game for you.” Chris Baker Konami Sony CEA =» Rockstar Rockstar ' Grandia I Ubisoft € Grandia Xtreme Enix Gravity Games Bike: Street, Vert, Dirt Midway The Great Escape Gotham Games GTC Africa Majesco Guilty Gear X Majesco/Sammy Guilty Gear X2 Gungrave Gungriffon Blaze Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone — Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland EA Games EA Games ө: Haunted Mansion Haven: Call of the King Headhunter Herdy Gerdy Ё Heroes of Might and Magic Hidden Invasion High Heat MLB 2002 High Heat MLB 2003 WHAT ELSE igh Heat MLB 2004 MATTERS? ssa: “It's a revolutionary game design, a perfect showcase for the sys- tem, and a must-have for anyone’ library— but more important, it’s Hunter: The Reckoning-Wayward ТИЕ) Hypersonic Xtreme lenging, enthralling I-Ninja. Namco game.” ko Sony CEA Joe Rybicki LucasArts Codemasters Hitman: Contracts Hot Shots Golf 3 Hot Wheels: Velocity X The Hulk Interplay Majesco Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb Indy Car Series Intellivision Lives! Island Extreme Stunts The Italian Job Jade Cocoon 2 Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legac Jak I il at James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire verything or Nothing James Bond 007: NightFire James Cameron's Dark Angel ЕА Games. EA Games. Activision. Sierra ee James Bond 0 [www.IUP.com] M WA REPLAY MADDEN NFL 2005 CRUSH THE COMPETITION BY LEARNING TO USE THIS YEAR’S NEW ADDITIONS HIT STICK EA Sports has added a new feature to this year’s Madden 2005 called the hit stick. Using the right analog stick, you can unleash wicked shots and really lay the smack down on the offense, preventing offensive shoot-outs. In fact, one of the best ways to break up the deep ZONE • If a receiver is sent in motion and the defense is in man lock, then quickly press Up on the defender so he plays zone. * There may be times when a linebacker is blitz- ing and areas of the field are wide open. To cover the vacated area, drop a lineman in his place. This is especially effective when drop- ping defensive tackles over the middle while you take control of the middle linebacker and blitz him outside. You get a faster defense rushing the quarterback without sacrificing too much zone coverage underneath. e There may be times when you want to drop a FLATS * If the offense is abusing the flats with running backs or tight ends. Playmaking a defensive end to play the flats can be effective, but it also takes away from the pass rush. * Stopping the outside run. Often defenders will get outside quicker since their assignment is to play the flats. 112 [OPM September 2004] ball is to take control of a safety and drop him into deep coverage. If you practice enough, you can get into position to deliver a crushing blow. Get back quickly, then use the Strafe button to square up. Wait for the ball to get close and flick the hit stick. cornerback into deep zone coverage when playing Cover 2 Zone. Say you come out in the 4-3 Cover 2 Zone with the left and right cor- nerbacks playing the flats. If the offense is lined up on the far left side of the hash mark, drop the right cornerback into deep zone cov- erage. Most players will not throw to the short side because there is not much room to work with. Have the right cornerback drop back into deep zone then use the safety coverage audible shift to shade the free safety and strong safety to the left side. The coverage now changes from Cover 2 Zone to Cover 3 Zone. < While the * By selling out to a hit-stick tackle, there is a chance that you will miss and give up the big play. Player matchups play a part in the equation, so bringing up a much smaller safety to put a hit on a bruising back really isn't a good idea. e In short-yardage situations. There is no sense in dropping a linebacker or defensive back away from the line of scrimmage. You want them to react to the ball as soon as it is snapped. e If another defender is already defending the flats, or if the offense has been pound- ing the ball inside. D-FENSE! D-FENSE! Learn how to effectively use thenew defensive features to cause fumbles and shut down the offense in key situations. You will see more penetration by the defense this year, espe- cially on running plays. This gives you many chances to use the hit stick to make a high- light-reel play. Get your middle linebacker into position and use the hit stick to put a big hit on the running back. The ball carrier may still hold on to the ball, but if he takes too many big hits, he'll be sitting on the bench. INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKER HOT ROUTES Madden provides even greater control while playing defense by allowing you to use Play- maker control to give individ- ual defenders new assign- ments, This new feature allows you to stop money plays before they even hap- pen. In this section, we break down all five individual defen- sive Playmaker hot routes. GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE MLB SlugFest 20-03 MLB Slugfest 20-04 __ AMLB Slugfest: Loaded — — Jonny Moseley Mad Trix Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death The Jungle Book: Rhythm n’ Groove ndam: Encounters in Space Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis Kd World Grand Prix Karaoke Revolution The King of Fighters 2000/2001 i nin Monopoly Party 0 Monster 4x4: Masters of Metal Monster Rancher 3 Monster Rancher 4 Monsters, Inc. | Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance MotoGP MotoGP2 The King of Route 66 MotoGP3 — King’s Field: The Ancient City Motor Mayhem __ Kingdom Hearts — — MTV Music Generator 2 Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil MTV Music Generator. Knockout Kings2001 __ MTV's Celebrity Dea Knockout Kings 2002 _ MTX: Mototrax — The Mummy Returns Music Maker —— MVP Baseball 2003 MVP Baseball 2004 MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael | The Legend of Alon Legends of Wre Legends of Wrestling II Legion: The Legend of Excalibur. Lego Racers 2 ~ Lego Media Lethal Skies Sammy NBA Ballers Midway Sports #Madden NFL 2005 — Mafi Maximo vs. Army of Zin MDK2 Armageddon #Medal of Honor: RisingSun Mega Man Anniversary Collection Men in Black Il; Alien Escape _ Infogrames itch in the System Vivendi Universal Midway Arcade Treasures Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing Minority Report Mission: Impossible- Operation Surma Eidos/Fresh ~ Sony CEA Sony CEA CAN'T GET ENOUGH MTV CRIBS? Enter these codes under the Phraseology menu forall your favorite baller's pimped-out palaces. UNLOCKABLE CODE Allen Iverson's alternate gear Allen Iverson's studio Alonzo Mourning Amare Stoudemire Baron Davis Ben Wallace's alternate gear Bill Russell Bill Walton Chris Webber Clyde Drexler Darryl Dawkins Dikembe Mutombo Dominique Wilkins Elton Brand George Gervin Jalen Rose Jason Kidd Jason Williams Jerry Stackhouse's alternate gear John Stockton Julius Erving Karl Malone Karl Malone's Devonshire estate Kevin Garnett's alternate gear Kevin McHale Kobe Bryant's alternate gear NBA Hoopz NBA Jam 2004 killer crossover the answer zo rising sun stylin & profilin radio controlled cars celtics dynasty towers of power 24 seconds clyde the glide rim wrecker in the paint dunk fest rebound the ice man cometh bringit pass the rock give and go stop drop and roll court vision one on one special delivery ice house boss hoss holla back Japanese steak . Midway Acclaim PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE NBA Live 2003 ANBALLive2004 ——— NBA ShootOut 2001 NBA ShootOut 2003 NBA ShootOut 2004 NBA Starting Five #NCAA College Basketball 23 NCAA College Footb: NCAA Final Four 2001 NCAA Final Four 2002 _ NCAA Final Four 2003 | Four 2004. NCAA Football 2002 (По у To) У» /NCAA Football 2005 “As the home team, you can help frenzy the crowd, both by kicking ass on the field and by hitting L2 at the line on defense. Just don't start sucking—fans can be fickle, you know.” Chris Baker NO REAL SURPRISE “If you like arcade b- ball, you should pick up NBA Ballers without hesitation, especially if you even remotely like any games in the NBA Jam series.” Giancarlo Varanini UNLOCK ALL-TIME AND MASCOT TEAMS All-time teams In campus challenge mode, collect 48 pennants to unlock the all-time teams for use in the play now mode. In campus challenge mode, collect 70 mascot team pennants to unlock various fuzzy creatures for use in the play now mode. NCAAGameBreaker200] — Mascot teams _ NCAA GameBreaker 2004 NCAA March Madness 2002 NCAA March Madness 2003 NCAA March Madness 2004 it2 ed: Hot Pursu Need for Speed Underground NFL GameDay 2004 NFL Quarterback Club ЯМЕ. Street NHL 2001 NHL 2002 Ninja Assault No One Lives Forever Okage: Shadow King Namco Sierra Onimusha: Warlords Sony CEA Acclaim EA Games Activision Ignition Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat _ Pool Paradise Portal Runner The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage Pride FC Primal Pro Race Driver Project Eden Codemasters € [www.lUP.com] 113 И REPLAY Pryzm Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn TOK Mediactive 60 Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy Midway @@@@¢ 82 PI.O.IV _ Kod 66 Take-Two EAGames 40 44 ] Name 76 R-Type Final Eidos/Fresh Games 78 Rally Fusion: Race of Champions Activision eee 64 Ratchet & Clank Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc i Ubisoft | Rayman Arena Ubisoft RC Revenge Pro Acclaim Феб — 4 s i Use the cover provided by the Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 Midway я bridge. When your flare is charged, RealPool 0 Infogrames ) pop out and ie cannot: Red Card Soccer 20-03 Midway ӨӨӨ — 57 Red Dead Revolver Rockstar ө 82 LEVEL REWARDS Here's what fancy shootin'll git yer. The first column of rewards is for a Good rating, and the second column is for an Excellent rating. IC] = Character, [L] = Level, [U] = Upgrade, [W] = Weapon LEVEL GOODREWARD EXCELLENT REWARD Bull's Eye TU] old pistol TL] Broken Creek Bounty Hunter [C] “Bloody” Тот [C] “Big Оа?" Whitney Ugly Streetfight [С] “Ugly” Chris Ш Freak Show Railroaded [U] owl rifle IC] Rico Pedrosa Carnival Life Dead-Eye max-up IC] "Pig" Josh Freak Show Health max-up [U] breech loader Rogue Valley [C] Cooper IC] Bad Bessie Cemetery IL] Ghost Town IC] Mr. Black 6 MA Range War IL] The Ranch [C] Holstein Hal н Saloon Fight [C] Dan IC] Sam The Traitor [L] The Bridge Health max-up. Sunset Canyon [0] twin revolvers Dead-Eye max-up Bear Mountain _ [С] Shadow Wolf Dead-Eye max-up The Mine IL] The Mine IC] "Smiley" Fawler Hell Pass IC] Buffalo IC] Gabriel Navarro Fort Diego Health max-up IC] Colonel Daren Devils & Angels — [L] The Ranch IC] General Diego Battle Finale Dead-Eyemaxup [C] Mr. Kelley The Siege IL] Mansion Grounds [C] Jason Cornet Fall From Grace [W] scorpion revolver [С] Governor Griffon Reel Fishing Ill Reign of Fire Resident Evil Code: Resident Evil: Dead Aim Resident Evil Outbreak Return to Castle Wolfenstein: OR Rez Ribbit King Ridge Racer V Riding Spirits. Ring of Red Rise to Honor CHAPTER 6: CARNIVAL LIFE B lobal Domination _ Interplay un Li Road Kill Midway • RoadTrip _ ... Conspiracy Robin Hood: Defender ofthe Crown Capcom EB Rocky Ubisoft Robot Alchemic Drive Enix 1 Robotech: Battlecry TDK Rogue Ops Kemco Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII Koei $94 60 Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII RPG Maker 2 Agetec RTX Red Rock o “LucasArts ee Rumble Racing —— Rune: Viking Warlord _ | Rygar: The Legendary Adventure Salt Lake 2002 CHAPTER 9: GHOST TOWN CHAPTER 10: CEMETERY ‘Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku па [OPM September 2004] are your first priority. Keep them between you and Mr. Black as you strafe, shooting the thugs ‘one by one. If you keep them between you, Mr. Black will help your efforts by firing on his own men. One of the four drops the only health found in this stage. When all four have fallen, concen- trate on Mr. Black. B The cemetery provides little protection, so keep on the move. Use headstones for temporary cover, then use the tree, your best source of pro- tection throughout the encounter. Mr. Black attacks with a casket swipe if you get too close and a minigun from any distance. The latter does some pretty serious damage, so run as soon as you suspect it. Escape by running when the firing starts and hope you stay one step ahead of it. Take cover behind the tree. Toss a stick of dynamite at Mr. Black’s feet when he sets up for an attack to disrupt it. | 7 Mr. Black is most vulnerable after the minigun attack. Get into midrange with your revolver and shoot at him as he attempts to pack the gun away, then pelt him in the head continuously. Continue this while avoiding his minigun as best you can. CHAPTER 13: THE TRAITOR TAKING OUT THE EIGHT U.S. CANNONS Suggested Weaponry: Martillo del Dios 8 As soon as you take out the first wave of enemy soldiers, attack the cannons. Once on the bridge, jump to the water and run under the bridge. Use the stone support wall for cover. Equip your Martillo del Dios and charge up a flare. Fire at the enemy cannons with the flags behind them. After your flare hits, the cannons will fire. Seek cover, charge up your flare again, then pop out and fire at the next enemy cannon. Repeat this on both sides of the bridge. Another wave of enemy soldiers storms in. Shoot them as they get close, but continue to fire flares at the cannons. The more cannons you destroy, the fewer you have to worry about later. CHAPTER 14: SUNSET CANYON DESTROYING THE STAGECOACH Suggested Weaponry: repeater rifle, revolver | 9 Most of your shots will be from a distance with the repeater rifle. When you ascend the dirt mound, run to the left of the stone road that crosses the canyon to trigger the stagecoach. Quickly shoot as it drives by. Avoid fire from the driver and passenger. Keep firing until the coach disappears around the building behind you. Con- tinue your barrage of bullets when it reappears on the other side. Don't leave that top area, because the coach returns there. As you keep up the attack, shoot any enemies running around. If the stagecoach tries to run over you, roll to safety. Because of its powerful gun, you shouldn't stay behind the coach. There's health nearby if you need it. Stay on the top level and fire on the coach even if it heads down to the lower road. Repeat until it explodes. CHAPTER 20: FORT DIEGO COMPLETING THE LEVEL Suggested Weaponry: bayonet rifle, Pacificador Choose weapons that are powerful, quick, and have multiple shots. Range isn’t too important because most of the fighting will be up close. по! Turn to the left and shoot the sniper in the balcony window. As you do so, try to stay as close to the stone wall as possible. After he's dead, run under the balcony, climb the boxes, and collect the health. Avoid shooting anybody else, just get into the building. Drop through the hole in the floor and walk to the right side of the doorway. Three enemies are hiding behind cover in the next room. Ease out and shoot the first one to the left; take out the one in the center, then kill the last one to the right and collect their items. Follow the hallway until you can see outside. . Keep to the safety of the hallway and shoot out- side enemies. Progress slowly along the ruins, LOOK SHARP Wondering why some lev- els of Red Dead Revolver look so different from oth- ers? We did too, so we asked Rockstar about it. Its. response: "We wanted there to be a clear progres- sion in the look and feel of the levels. Red moves on from the dusty ghost town landscapes seen early in the game into more open land- scapes. We designed the game so that in some levels the picture is sharper in the middle and blurrier on the edges of the screen to help. convey the essence of the period setting.” dropping fools who pop out to kill you. Eventually, you'll reach a hole in the wall. Jump to the lower level. Collect all the items in the area—you won't be coming back. Don’t worry, most of the big guys drop at least a small health bottle. Stay close to the doorways and aim down the hallways for any enemies. As you drop them, make your way down the hall, following it left. When the hallway looks blocked, shoot the TNT barrels. At the end is a room with stairs leading up. Shoot the big guy charging in from the left. Then shoot the enemy at the top of the stairs. Climb partway up the stairs and take out the bandito manning the chain gun on the roof. Don't try to head up there yourself; you'll only get slaugh- tered. Instead, run out the door near the bottom of the stairs, take cover behind the wall in front of you, and then take out the enemies scattered about the area. 12] Keep killing those gunfighters until Colonel Daren shows up. Run around the cover as you fire; always hide while you reload. When Daren points his cannon arm at you, hide! Keep up this shoot-and-hide technique. CHAPTER 24: BATTLE ROYALE FINALE DUELING AND DEFEATING MR. KELLEY Suggested Weaponry: high-caliber rifle, widowmaker 13) Kelley is extremely fast on the draw. As soon as the duel starts, get your reticule on him. Aim at his legs first to temporarily stun him. Move the reticule up his body and continue shooting him to ^ prevent him from firing at you. After a few well- placed shots, Kelley goes down. Kelley is up and ready to do more damage. Use a rifle and dead-eye ability when you can as you chase him. Be careful with your shots—don't kill any townsfolk. As you chase Kelley, use the buildings for cover and fire head shots at him. CHAPTER 25: SIEGE COMPLETING THE LEVEL Suggested Weaponry: high-caliber rifle, widowmaker As you start, run for the front hedges, shooting the enemies who scatter. From the hedge, shoot enemies who might harm you or your friends. When it's clear, concentrate on Oswald, who is located on the balcony. Duck in and out of cover as you shoot him. B After Oswald falls, run to the fountain oppo- site your friends. Shoot the random soldiers run- ning around, but ignore Randy. He stays on the opposite side of the fountain. As you take out the rest of the soldiers, your friends shoot Randy for you. After you're done with the goons, finish Randy off by strafing and firing to the left and right of the fountain. 16! Collect Randy's health and follow your friends to the side of the yard. More enemies emerge. Use your rifle to protect your friends. Annie tries to get into the house and enemies appear. Kill them all! The door is locked, so run upstairs. More ene- mies come out of the door on the second floor. After they die, more appear on the roof. Shoot them to trigger a cut-scene. 7) Annie provides cover from the upstairs bal- cony, so follow Jack downstairs and give him cover. Jack needs three minutes to pick the lock. Unfortunately, more enemies show up. Use your rifle to drop them, saving your Zwei Fasser for the bosses. Use dead-eye to make your shots on the bosses count. Stay close to the hedges, but don’t go too far from Jack. Anyone firing at Jack is a priority target. Near the end, Annie comes down to join the battle, leaving you with two bodies to defend. _ Iwww:lUP.com] 115 IA REPLAY IC DOESN’T Let's face it: The masses often don’t have very good taste. ~ Which is why some 16 [OPM September 2004] mediocre things become very popular, while other much bet- ter things are over- looked—case in point, American Idol versus Arrested Develop- ment. Here's our list of the overrated and underrated of PlayStation. VILLAIN |: OVER SEPHIROTH (FINAL FANTASY VII) So because this guy looks kinda neat (the fangirls love him for looking like a member of the Girlymen Club) and he walks through fire in a cut-scene, he’s automatically revered as the greatest Final Fantasy villain ever? If he’s such an awesome villain, why does he spend half the game on the run and the other half sitting around a crater, with his only acts of note being the aforementioned firewalk and the slaughter of Aeris? Whatever. UNDER REVOLVER OCELOT (METAL GEAR SOLID FRANCHISE) Not only does he pull off badass trick shots with revolvers, but he also gets an arm chopped off and still manages to torture Solid Snake with full gusto. While other people with the “Snake” name have weird family connections and delusions of grandeur, Ocelot is just a persistent, sneaky, and cool vil- lain. Heck, just watch the MGS3 trailer and you'll see that he was a badass even in the ‘60s. ‘Ashley Wood for Idea + Design Works, LLC OVER TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL You say this "dating sim" is a revolutionary game of human interaction. We say it's a creepy step toward tentacle porn. Here's a suggestion: How about you work on your relationships in real life, hmm? UNDER GUITAR FREAKS Think DDR, but with catchier songs and a kick- ass guitar-shaped controller. We have no idea why Konami hasn't brought this over to the good ol' U.S. of A. yet, but we sure wish it would. OVER DAXTER (ЈАК AND DAXTER) Vinnie Delpino—sorry, Max Casella should be given props for making what could have been a really annoying character tolerable. But what's Daxter good for? He's a little weasel with a very big mouth—and not much more. UNDER SCREE (PRIMAL) This is the way to build a memorable sidekick: Make him dignified, make him funny looking, and make him useful. It might even be argued that Scree is too good for the game he is in. OVER EYETOY Those who purchased an EyeToy quickly discov- ered that its key offerings are some wonky face mapping and a bunch of minigames. It’s hardly the must-have we were told it would be. UNDER EYETOY EyeToy technology offers the PS2 a big way to take a giant leap ahead of the rest of the console pack—once developers start stretching the limits of this device. We're looking forward to the day someone capitalizes on EyeToy’s capabilities. CANCELED GAME OVER THRILL KILL Back in ‘98, this ultrabloody fighter by Paradox Development was canceled when family-friendly EA absorbed Virgin Interactive. It got lots of hype. But it really sucked, too. UNDER GUNSLINGER Save townsfolk, you're liked; kill their horses, you're an outlaw. Scheduled for 2001, Surreal Software's Old West PS2 game offered true free- dom, including good and bad paths. Ahead of its time? Quite possibly. 4 IMPORT 5-BLARG GAME Jm ЖАМ OVER JAK AND DAXTER: THE PRECURSOR LEGACY An astonishing example of how technological prowess makes it easy to overlook a game’s basic flaws: too easy, too kiddie, too damn much col- lecting—and not enough story. UNDER ESCAPE FROM MONKEY ISLAND In a world where “adventure game” has come to mean “Resident Evil-style game,” it is no surprise that this sharp, clever throwback didn’t make a peep on the charts. But you should all still be ashamed of yourselves. LARA CROFT MODEL д OVER NELL MCANDREW Yeah, this Playboy centerfold is hot, but Nell McAn- drew’s career seems to be based solely on the fact that she is Nell McAndrew, as is evidenced by her leaps between grade-Z reality programs. UNDER RHONA MITRA Ms. Mitra has parlayed her stint as Lara Croft into anumber of television and film roles—you may have caught her on the shows Party of Five and The Practice or in the films Stuck on You and Sweet Home Alabama. Break a leg, Rhona! 2 PERIPHERAL USELESS KART-RACING GAME OVER STAR WARS: SUPER BOMBAD RACING Star Wars characters with big heads. Puh-lease. It is an interesting game, and it got a ton of hype pre-Episode |, but it really didn't deserve any of it. Who decided that big-head modes were funny? Not us. UNDER ANTZ EXTREME RACING An unusual game in the licensed-kart subgenre, as it is guilty of actually not sucking too much. We never thought we'd say this in relation to a videogame, but hooray for Woody Allen. DYNAMIC DUO OVER JAK AND DAXTER When it comes to action, Jak and Daxter are a great team, but the second they start talking (par- ticularly Daxter), it all goes downhill. That stupid rat won't shut up UNDER DR. DAN AND DR. DON (POINT BLANK, PST) What do you get when you cross Bert from Sesame Street with any depiction of a Canadian in South Park? Two of the most underappreciated badass mofos in gaming—that's what. ES < DANGEROUS CURVES In case you didn't believe us that Rhona is the best Lara Croft model ever, we present further evidence: Out of all nine models, Rhona is the only one whose measurements of 34- 24-35 exactly match digital Lara's. / gy NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH Suiko-den, a 1942 Japanese film starring prolific actress Hideko Takamine. INAL FANTASY HERO с = e OVER CLOUD STRIFE (FINAL FANTASY VII) Why do people fawn over this spiky-haired guy with intense memory problems whose dialogue is 47 percent "..." and 53 percent whining? Why do people forgive the fact that he lies about his past and embellishes his life story by taking credit for things his dead friend did? It's because of the big sword, right? UNDER RAMZA BEOULVE (FINAL FANTASY TACTICS) Ramaa is a true hero in that he's actually trusting and noble, and he selflessly saves the entire world, even though it means being branded a heretic and being completely hidden from mem- ory while someone else takes credit for his deeds. Kind of like an anti-Cloud. Plus, he is just plain more fun to play as in terms of actual gameplay. EXTRAS AND BONUSES fee. ® een. «б ل‎ OVER TIMESPLITTERS’ MAP MAKER It sounded powerful and revolutionary...but it is just a bit too simple to offer more than a momen- tary diversion. Hopefully, the planned online capa- bilities of TS3 will make this option more interesting. UNDER HALF-LIFE’S ADD-ON DISC Hello? Game developers? Adding value is good. When Sierra included a bonus level for Half-Life on our demo disc, we figured designers would finally take the hint. They didn’t. RPG FRANCHISE OVER FINAL FANTASY C'mon! What do you mean you think we're nuts? Unconditional love is all well and good, but for a relationship to work, each side needs to under- stand the other's problems. Final Fantasy is flawed. Deal with it. € UNDER SUIKODEN Speaking of flaws, yes the last Suikoden certainly has problems. That said, this is one of the most dependable RPG franchises on PlayStation, and so few people have played it. Shame on you. [www.lUP.com] 117 JA REPLAY || OVER RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK Yet another game about a zombie outbreak in the urban populace. Except this survival-horror game includes other Internet yahoos who can become zombies too and try to eat you. No thanks. UNDER .HACK//OUTBREAK Here's a cool idea: an MMORPG without nerds named “BizzWizz The Calcitrant” clogging up your fun. The .hack series proves that serialized games can work, and it is a refreshing change of pace from other games involving viral outbreaks. RACING FRANCHISE pee "а = OVER TEST DRIVE E It's been around since the dawn of time, but this ^^ franchise hasn't really brought anything new to МҸ the table in about 10 years. Does anyone really — саге anymore? UNDER WRC All rally games are underappreciated, so it's no surprise that one of the most visceral racing games of recent years was overlooked. The fran- chise is up to its fourth game in the United King- J| dom. No such luck here. CRAPPY BATMAN GAME OVER BATMAN & ROBIN This stinker certainly did nothing to prove wrong the assumption that superhero and movie games must suck—it is both. Still, it’s often referred to # _ as the worst PlayStation Batman game. It's not. # UNDER BATMAN BEYOND: 4 RETURN OF THE JOKER If more people don't start getting it into their heads that the only Batman Beyond game is also the suckiest PlayStation Batman game of all time—period—then the Joker has already won. DEATH SCENE i T b бел: OVER AERIS (FINAL FANTASY VII) Did anyone not see this coming? Well, other than the legions of fanboys writing insipid poetry about her untimely death. She’s been ended: Get over it. b UNDER NUMEROUS NAMELESS SOLDIERS (DYNASTY WARRIORS FRANCHISE) Why do people cry over the death of one flower girl but not the reckless slaying of hundreds of soldiers? These guys had lives, but not one of you cared! We must have missed the memo that said “Homicide is sad, but massacres are A-OK!” Ý [OPM September 2004] | OVER NINA (DEATH BY DEGREES/TEKKEN) OK, so she’s hot. What else does she have? An English accent. Yeah, well, we've got one of those around here, too, and they're not all they're cracked up to be, believe us. UNDER SPANX (WHIPLASH/MAD DASH RACING) Easy to dismiss as just a stupid character from a couple of stupid games by Eidos, but dig deeper and you'll find that Spanx is in the unusual posi- tion of actually being funny. Kinda rare for a game character. HOT CHICK B wt, OVER LARA CROFT (TOMB RAIDER) The most recognizable female game character after Ms. Pac-Man, Lara Croft is so overexposed that your grandmother probably knows who she is. However, best known does not always equal best looking. Like here, for example. UNDER JENNIFER TATE (PRIMAL) The chick from Primal has got it goin' on, and not enough people know it. She's smart. She's funny. She hangs out in biker bars. She's good in a fight. And she's got a really nice butt. STAR WARS REFERENCE EB а The fact that FF often features characters named after Luke's Rebel buddies is certainly cool, but people seem to think it’s the only Star Wars refer- ence in games or something. UNDER BLUE HARVEST (COVERT OPS: NUCLEAR DAWN) Geeky Star Wars fact No. 1,138: To keep rabid fans from the set, George Lucas and co. disguised the filming of on-location sequences in Return of the Jedi as a horror film called Blue Harvest. OVERUSED SONG IN A GAME OVER "DRAGULA" BY ROB ZOMBIE "Dragula" is in lots of games—from Nightmare Creatures Il to Sled Storm—and it became the poster song for overused licensed music. It still overshadows other songs we hear too much. UNDER “FAT LIP” BY SUM 41 As much as people complain about “Dragula,” you never really hear any gripes about “Fat Lip” — which is in NHL 2002, ESPN X Games: Skate- boarding, and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2, to name a few. YOUR TURN Maybe we overlooked a category, or maybe you think our choices are just plain wrong. Whatever the case, it’s your turn: Send an e- mail with the subject line “Over/Under” to opm@ziffdavis.com —we'll print the best responses in an upcoming issue. OVER CARS UNDER CHOCOBOS RELEASE DATE OVER HOLIDAYS UNDER JUNE OVER CELEBRITIES UNDER PROFESSIONAL VOICE ACTORS BAD NUMERAL USAGE IN A TITLE OVER DRIV3R UNDER FINAL FANTASY X-2 SILLY PERIOD/DOUBLE-SLASH USE OVER -HACK//WHATEVER UNDER LARGO WINCH.//COMMANDO SAR OVER GUNS UNDER GUITARS TRANSPORTATION LESBIANS OVER HANA AND RAIN (FEAR EFFECT 72 For all the advertising promising girl-on-girl fun, Fear Effect 2 ended up being disappointingly staid. Hana and Rain's longing glances and slinky dresses do not hot lesbian action make. UNDER GIRLS OF THE SIMS Under the innocent trappings of this family- friendly game lies a quivering heart of Sapphic lust. The women of The Sims: Bustin' Out take any excuse to make out. Your neighbor's not ogling you—she wants your girlfriend. [DEVELOPER |] OVER NAUGHTY DOG Are they talented, or simply talented at shameless self-promotion? It's probably a little of both—the pendulum can swing either way. It went one way for Crash: WARPED, and perhaps by Jak Il it had swung all the way in the opposite direction. UNDER UBISOFT MONTREAL These guys know their stuff, not least of which is what it takes to make our Game of the Year in 2003, Prince of Persia. 3D TURN-BASED ANIMAL WARFARE el ] E OVER WORMS 3D As far as PlayStation franchises go, Worms is actually underrated—which is why you should put this down and go play any 2D Worms game now. But if you want your animal warfare in 3D, there is a better option. UNDER HOGS OF WAR We're pretty sure Infogrames just said, "Let's do Worms in 3D but with pigs," but man, did it work well. The graphics look even worse than in 2000. Still, fine tactical strategy awaits. yum тап OVER HERDY GERDY This isn't so much a herding game as is it a glori- fied cel-shaded extension of that scene in Rocky where Sly chases chickens all over the place—with some pan flutery thrown into the mix. UNDER SHEEP How can you not love a game that lets you move sheep around with characters that we affection- ately described as "a mother flocker" and "a flocking bitch”? All Sheep needed was a litter of level one cats to be the perfect herding game. S1 FRANCHISE RUINED ON PS2 OVER TOMB RAIDER Yeah, yeah. Lara is overexposed, and now she's raided herself into mediocrity. Somebody light up the Bat Signal and tell Batman that there's a new detective in town. When even nursing homes are aware that Lara is played out, saying she's played out is, well, officially played out. UNDER SAGA The first two SaGa Frontier games on PS] were quirky but not bothersome. But then, some sort of virus that causes hyperincompetency infected Akitoshi Kawazu while he was doing Unlimited SaGa. It's not entirely hard to botch up combat systems and graphics, but when even the act of moving around is a painful chore, you've got your- self a ruined franchise. OVER PARAPPA THE RAPPER | If you're down with this hip-hop hound, our selec- tion will no doubt shock you. But let's face it-the game is Simon Says with weird music and charac- ters, and it's arguably more fun to watch than it is to play. UNDER REZ Now this is something we want to see more of: A game that's equally compelling to shooter fans and music fans, where every shot fired only adds to the heavenly ambient soundtrack. BAD GAMES BASED ON CARTOONS OVER THE SIMPSONS Though Bart and co. have starred in some real stinkers (Wrestling and Skateboarding, especially), the awesome Hit & Run and adequate Road Rage should satisfy any real fan. UNDER SOUTH PARK Who killed Kenny? Oh, that’s right—Acclaim did. Unlike The Simpsons, all three of South Park’s PlayStation games have absolutely, inarguably sucked. Yet South Park fans don’t seem nearly as outraged as the Simpsons fans do. [www.IUP.com] 119 WA REPLAY Samurai Warriors Koei/EA 81 Katana-wielding warriors from the feudal past have been in vogue since SNK's seminal Samurai Shodown series on the Neo-Geo. But did you know how many additional weapon masters the game contains? COMPLETE... „ТО UNLOCK Kenshin story Keiji Maeda Noh, Oichi, Magoichi stories Nobunaga Oda Okuni story Goemon Ishikawa Keiji story Okuni Shingen, Hanzo stories Kunoichi Any story Magoichi Saika Yukimura story Shingen Takeda Any two stories Masamune Date Ranmaru story Noh Mitsuhide story Ranmaru Mari Saturday Night Speedway _ Atari @@4 8l Savage Skies Bam ӨӨӨ 56 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian THQ Universal Secret Weapons Over Normandy LucasArts Seek and Destroy Conspiracy mnis _ lext Encounter Shadow of Destiny Shadow Man: Zecond Coming Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder Activision Shifters 300 ө 58 Shinobi Sega ӨӨӨӨ 65 Showdown: Legends of Wrestling Acclaim @€ — 83 EA Sports Big 63 Activision 82 While we can't solve the smell or that. back-talking donkey, here're a cou- ple of codes to tap in at the Scrapbook screen. Once done, exit the level Bonus games +, t, 8, О, +, t, 0,0,0 Level select *, t,3,0,%, f, Shrek Super Party — Siren Silent Hill 3 9,0, «, t, 8, 0,0,0,0, 5,0, «, 2,9,0, 1, 2, 1,1,1 _TOK Mediactive @@¢ 64 SonyCEA eee — 81 Silent Line: Armored Core Silent Scope Konami 3 The Simpsons: Hit & Run The Simpsons: Road Rage The Simpsons Skateboarding —- The Sims :TheLost Planet _____ Working Designs Konami Sky Gunner ‘Sky Odyssey . Activision eee 40 Sled Storm ‘Smash Cars ‘Smash Court Tennis: Pro Tournament Namco ‘Smash Court Tennis: Pro Tournament 2 Namco $ SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Soldier of Fortune Soul Reaver 2 Space Channel 5 Special Edition SpaceRace Spawn Armageddon Speed Kings Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy - 120 [OPM September 2004] NFL GAMEDAY Not reviewed іп ОРМ. NFL BLITZ 0020 MADDEN NFL 2001 ®®®®® SEGA SPORTS TENNIS eec MVP BASEBALL 2003 NBA LIVE 2003 00006 WORLD SOCCER: WINNING ELEVEN 6 INTERNATIONAL ESPN NBA BASKETBALL 00000 NBA BALLERS GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE Spider-Man Activision € 57 Splashdown Infogrames @@@® 52 5 Rides Gone Wild THQ 72 ‘SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom THQ eee T 5 Midway Vivendi Universal ӨӨӨ _ 64 EA Sports Big {1 38) SSX Tricky EASportsBig 22222 52 74 Star Trek: Shattered Universe ток e. 75 Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Majesco Star Wars Bounty Hunter _ LucasArts Star Wars: The Clone Wars LucasArts Star Wars Super Bombad Racing _ LucasArts Star Wars Jedi Starfighter LucasArts Star Wars Racer Revenge LucasArts Star Wars Starfighter LucasArts @@@@¢ 43| GAME PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE TopGear Dare ейі Kemco Top Gun: Combat Zones Titus € Atari Transw Infogrames FTribes: Aerial Assault | Sierra Triple Play 2002 True Crime: Streets of L.A. Tsugunai: Atonement Acclaim Sony CEA Sony CEA EA Games EA Sports # Twisted Metal: Black Online Ty the Tasmanian Tiger UEFA Euro 2004 Starsky & Hutch Gotham Games ФФ 74 [State of Emergency ______ • 59 Stitch: Experiment 626 EX3 Street Hoop: Stretch Panic Strike Force Bowling Stuntman Sub Rebellion The Suffering. Suikoden ll Super Trucks Racing XS Games 94 — — reet Challenge Activision @@4 52 erman: Shadow of Apokolips — Atari өөө‹ Surfing H30 Rockstar : Global Strike Team Sierra ® Swing Away Golf — EA Games Фе Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Tak and the Power of Juju — Tekken Tag Tournament E Namco Er] The Terminator: Dawn of Fate _ Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. 7 Test Drive Infogrames 9904 58 48 Test Drive Off-Road: Wide Open Infogrames Tetris Worlds | | Theme Park Roller Coaster _ Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 63 E] # Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 EA Sports. Time Crisis2 - Time Crisis 3 74 Tokyo Xtreme Racer 76 Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero Tem Clancy's Gh oft Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm Ubisoft f Tem Clancy's Rai i ) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cel 8 2 6 Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness 72 $ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 2251 f Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Activision 2.2 22.7 63| # Tony Hawk's Underground Activision ө 76 Top Angler Xicat 82 Unison ee 44 Unlimited Saga ~ Square Enix ee _ 70 Unreal Tournament VRlyS _ Vampire Night иг Van Helsing —_ Vivendi Universal | Vax Acclaim 67 Victorious Boxers Empire €ee« 5] Virtual on Marz A oe РЕ Wakeboarding Unleashed Wallace & Gromit in ProjectZoo __ War Jetz War of the Monsters Warriors of Might & Magic _ Wave Rally Way of the Samurai Way of the Samurai 2 Wheel of Fortune Whiplash Whirl Tour Vivendi Universal Whiteout _ Wild Arms 3 Wild Wild Racing Winback — Wipeout Fusion кнши Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land =A Woody Woodpecker: Buzz Buzzard Park DreamCatcher # World Championship Pool 2004 Jaleco World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars Infogrames World Series Baseball 2K3 Sega Sports Ф Konami World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 Int! World Tour Soccer 2002 5 ў World Tour Soccer 2005 SonyCEA World Tour Soccer 2004 SonyCEA eee 80 Wrath Unleashed LucasArts @€ — 78 Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions Activision (65 WTA Tour Tennis _ WWE Crush Hour E WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain THQ WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth THQ өө‹ 64 WWE SmackDown! Just Bring It THQ X Squad EA Games The X-Files: Resist or Serve Vivendi Universal X-Men: Next Dimension Activision X2:Wolverine’s Revenge ———— Xenosaga: Episode 1—Der Wille Zur Mac XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association а TOL NNNM. Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses Konami Zapper Infogrames ZO.E: Zone of the Enders Konami Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Konami READER REVIEWS ZOMBIES AND CARS DISAPPOINT NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND What you said: “This game has been made to cash in on what The Fast and the Furious created: stupid kids who know nothing about cars except to put NOS in them and pretty body kits on them. I'm a racing fanatic, and this is one of the worst games | have played. It's not even close to what real street racing is. The game is fake: Yes, it has arcade-style han- dling, but the sense of speed is unreal. i Another thing is the drift portion of this game. How the hell can you drift with a Civic without using your E-brake and have complete control over your car? The last problem is the lack of cars and the crappy selection. The only good things about this game are the graphics, music, and shift points in the drag por- tion. Ninety-five percent of the people who like this game didn't know about tuning import cars before The Fast and the Furious, just like you.” Your score: 90020 Eric Fung Stircrazy1892@yahoo.com What we said: “Rich with attitude and cool giz- mos, the underground racing scene is the perfect playground for videogames, and EA has done a magnificent job bringing the spectacle to PS2.” Our score: 90000 RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK What you said: “I'm not a huge Resident Evil fan. The series’ sheer complexity has never really appealed to me. But the ‘escape from a zombie- ridden town’ approach caught my attention, and so did Outbreak's innova- tive online play. So | pre- ordered it thinking, “What the heck, it looks solid, even if it is a Resident Evil game.’ Two words: Big. Mistake. “This is not the proper game for RE newbies. The “ALL THE FLAWS ADD UP TO MAKE OUTBREAK A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT.” online play bored me to death, the trial-and-error gameplay is really frustrating, and the controls suck. The graphics are praiseworthy—it's possibly the best-looking PS2 game available yet. | also like the wide selection of characters and their per- sonalities. However, all the flaws add up to make Outbreak a big, fat disappointment." Your score: 66 BBGunn1991@aol.com What we said: “It really is a solid survival-horror game that fans should check out. It just could have been so much better.” Our score: 666€ ^ [www.IUP.com] 121 Station] Magari 122 [OPM September 2004] September's cover story was devoted to Final Fantasy Vill—the first Final Fantasy to hit after FFVII exploded onto the RPG market. It was a big deal, and we treated it as such, exploring the game with obsessive depth. Yay, us. TALL TALES This was also a very substantial month for news coverage. Leading off the section was an extensive interview with Phil Harrison, then head of research and development at Sony CEA, in which he let drop a few tasty tidbits about the PS2. Check out this passage: “The technol- ogy has a number of uses outside of the core gaming area...like being able to take a video feed and manipulate that into a game, so you can paint yourself into a Chicago Bulls winning team and play alongside them.” At the time, we probably dismissed this comment as pie-in-the- Activision www.activision.com Atari www.atari.com... Bandai America, Inc. www.bandai.com.... Blockbuster, Inc. www.blockbuster.com BMG Music Service www.bmgmusic.com Capcom USA Inc. www.capcom.com Codemasters www.codemasters.com 79 69 45 34a-34b 84, 124 17 sky speculation. Then EyeToy came along and made us feel really stupid. EW HIGHLIGHTS All in all, this was a pretty solid month for reviews. In addition to NFL Blitz 2000's pack- leading five-disc score, we awarded four discs to Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman, WWF Attitude, Sled Storm, and—irony of ironies—Dri- ver, in whose review we mention the game being released ^with a minimum of marketing hype." Ah, the good old days. REVIEW LOWLIGHTS Subpar Eastern adventure Soul of the Samurai and subpar Blitz clone NFL Xtreme 2 both earned a measly 1.5 discs. Not god-awful, but by no means good. :MO MA 5 UmJammer Lammy was the marquee title this month, followed by the excellent Sled Storm (whose PS2 incarnation was another franchise remix gone wrong, incidentally). But for all those hardcore Final Fantasy fans, we also had a demo of Chocobo Racing. Aren't we swell? Collins College www.collinscollege.edu. Electronic Arts WWW.ea.COm..... Full Sail Real World Game Crazy Www.gamecrazy.cor ..... | Hollywood Video | www.hollywoodvideo.com .... Копатї Атегїса | www.konami.com ... | LucasArts Entertainment www.lucasarts.com ..... Midway Games, Inc. www.midway.com 6-7 WHO KN га When we first looked at Final Fantasy VIII, we had no idea there would be such a huge backlash about the realistic character models. CHART J Five years ago this month, the first Driver was at the top of the U.K. charts. This month, DRIV3R is at the top of the U.S. charts. Coinci- dence? Or nefarious government plot? You decide. Anyway, back in September of '99, Lunar: Silver Star Story topped the U.S. charts, with Syphon Filter, WWF Warzone, Triple Play 2000, and R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 rounding out the top five. «€ TION Ci “You know, these game-specific controllers have gotten way out of hand.” —Alex Thompson, Charleston, WV Namco Hometek WWW.namco.com.... Paramount Pictures www.paramount.com Sega of America | www.sega.com..... | Sony Computer Entertainment «2-5, 15, 37, 55, 125 WWW.Scea.com.. Square Enix U. | www.square-enix-usa.com "E | Take 2 Interactive | | | www.take2games.com | Тесто | www.tecmoinc.com .... Wizards of the Coast www.wizards.com As beautiful as the game is, even Major League Baseball has its ugly side. For every perfect game and 6-4-3 double play, there is a Don Mossi. An Andy Etchebarren. A Bill Skowron, But MLB” 2005 and | уе Тоу change all that as they take you into the ballgame, letting baseball buffs put their mug onto customized players. The boys of summer have never looked better as fans change the face of baseball forever. 1». ЄР Б HETA ^ SPOR а 9; P | | N у са ти тає ITI CAPTURED PHOTOS E СТЕ HEAD TYPE [| — “o a с ашыш ЖШ LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD. PLAY IN OURS? EVERYONE E NOW SHOWING ON THE PLAYSTATION 2 FROM DEVIL MAY CRY™*# LIFE IS TIFUL HIS HERO, CAPTAIN BLUE, JOE IS GRANTED POWERS WHICH TURN HIM INTO VIEWTIFUL JOE, THE MOST STYLISH SUPERHERO TO GRACE THE SILVER SCREEN. Cartoon Violence uggestive Themes JIIBRADYGAMES NINTENDO AVAILABLE GAMECUBE. PlayS tation.c Capcom Co., Ltd. 2003, 2004, @Capcom U.S.A., Inc. 2003, 2004. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Developed by CloverStudio Co., Ltd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM logo are registered trademarks of CAPCOM CO., LTD. DEVIL MAY CRY and VIEWTIFUL JOE are trademarks of CAPCOM CO., LTD. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Nintendo, Nintendo GameCube and the Official Seal are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2001 Nintendo. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. *PLaySTATION 2 GAME SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE. **ONLY IN THE PLAYSTATION 2 GAME.