Issue 9 (July 2001)

Issue 9, July 2001

Editor’s letter

“Not that I want you to stop reading just yet but a quick trip to page 39 might be in order if you haven’t read the rest of the magazine just yet. Why? Because this issue’s rammed-as-ever Spy section kicks off with Sony’s worldwide announcement of its online plans for the Playstation 2.

It’s a subject that has been hotly debated both in our Postal section and in the OPS2 offices. How? Why? What? When? We’ve known off-the-record for some time that Sony would be announcing their plans at this May’s E3 but as for actual details? Lips were tight. And now we know that Sony will not only be launching their 40GB Hard Disk Drive this November alongside their analogue / Ethernet Network Adaptor, but they’re working with the cream of Net technology firms to make everything from Web browsing to full-on network gaming a thing of the near rather than distant future. It’s happening, and it’s happening this year. To quote SCEE’s Phil Harrison, “By 2002, every single SCEE-produced game will have an online component.” Strewth.

Fact: This announcement will change the way we approach games on the PS2. True, it won’t replace one-player in-the-zone twitch gaming or tanking your mates in MultiTap all-nighters, but it’s not meant to. What it will do is expand just what we can do with our consoles. You’ll be able to customise your games with digital images, statistics and MP3s for a truly bespoke appeal. You’ll be able to reach out across the miles and play people in Tokyo, Texas and Tewkesbury. You’ll be able to surf for gaming tips or preview levels and download them straight to Memory Card. You’ll be able to instantly message taunts to your friends in Tribes 2 or just email your mum.

In a sentence, you’ll be able to do a whole lot of stuff that, while currently a mere bonus to the PS2’s existing wave of games, will spark the imaginations of developers everywhere to create new and exciting worlds. Just imagine going to bed before beating that end of level boss. In the future, the Save Game info could be stored on your Hard Disk Drive and your digital enemy could text-message you ‘reminder’ insults throughout the day. Add voice recognition and images downloaded from digital cameras to this stew and games just got personal.

It’ll take time. The technology’s on its way but the real breakthrough will be how developers and gamers actually use it. The Playstation 2 just got a whole lot bigger and it’s now up to everyone to grow along with it.”

Mike Goldsmith, Senior Editor

Features

OPS2 Interview: Keiji Inafune

River Deep Mountain High – Shaun Palmer’s Pro Snowboarding

Blades of Glory – Airblade

Special K – A discussion on the merits of various breakfast cereals. Just kidding, it’s actually Rez, which was going by its provisional title K Project at the time.

L.A. Story – The diaries of what the team did at E3, with timestamps and plenty of photos of the displays, celebrity guests and models.

Splash Team Racing – Splashdown

Who Let the Dogs Out? – Jak and Daxter

Monthly Articles

The Beautiful Game – Stealing bits from other games and mashing them together to make the ultimate super-game. This month, racing games.

30 Days in Tokyo – This month, Japanese correspondent Amos Wong gives an explanation of how his new electric bidet works. No physical demonstration, thank goodness. Would they even be allowed to print that?

The Grid – A head-to-head comparison of multiple upcoming games of a similar genre or theme. This month, fighting games, rated on their likelihood of being champs or chumps.

5X5 – Asking 5 questions to 5 industry figures. This month’s theme: videogame violence, which was prompted by the parents of Columbine victims suing videogame companies for encouraging violence.

Designer Genes – Readers write in with their game ideas and pitches. This month, Errant Souls: Hand of God. It’s an RPG in which your character must find the Hand of God (no relation to the God Hand) before any number of mercenaries, assassins, rival adventurers or mad kings get it and presumably use it for their own nefarious purposes.

Game Over – Fur Fighters. The team escape the self-destructing base as the evil General Viggo swears revenge… except that never happened because there was no sequel. You know, these sequel hooks that were never followed up on remind me of the final appearance of Barbados Slim on Futurama. “You haven’t seen the last of me, now goodbye forever!”

Previews

Resident Evil: Code Veronica X – “Not an entirely new or original title but its heritage, absorbing gameplay and out-and-out horror should make this a guaranteed hit.”

World Championship Snooker 2001 – “Snooker may lack charismatic celebrities, excitement and potential to do ‘big airs’, but as a thinking man’s sport this title should do it justice.”

CART Fury: Racing Championship – “Loads of fun in the arcade, CART Fury should be a spot-on conversion with a host of PS2 extras. Can’t really go wrong can it?”

Victorious Boxers – “A boxing game aiming for gimmick-free realism? Although the control system needs work, this could become the ISS of boxing. Unique.”

City Crisis – “Such brilliantly Japanese cutesiness is only ever going to be a minority concern, but where else can you pull mewling hounds from wreckage?”

UEFA Challenge – “Licence-boasting action with all the top European teams and a wealth of gameplay options. Is it Champions League or Nationwide Division 2?”

Reviews

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec – “A lengthy probe under its bonnet has left us with no doubt that GT3 is the greatest driving game in the world. A must-buy for every PS2 owner.” 9/10

Onimusha Warlords – “Onimusha really lets the PS2 show off what it can do but its gameplay doesn’t feel as fresh as it should. An impressive PS2 debut for survival horror nonetheless.” 8/10

Escape From Monkey Island – “Smart visuals, a witty script and ace puzzling. Not LucasArts’ most accomplished adventure, but it’s still right up there with the best of ‘em.” 8/10

Le Mans 24 Hours – “More accessible for the gamer too daunted by simulation-style vehicle handling but retains depth and thrills in abundance. A worthy alternative to Gran Turismo 3.” 8/10

The Bouncer – “Overall, a fun, accessible brawler and nothing more, despite what you may have heard. Has buckets of promise, but not much else.” 6/10

Bloody Roar 3 – “Bloody roarful? No, it’s not that bad, but a good game marred only by its lack of depth.” 6/10

Wacky Races – “Misty-eyed fans of the series will love the visuals, the weapons and the vehicles. Then the average gameplay will puncture their enthusiasm.” 6/10

Army Men Air Attack: Blade’s Revenge – “Boring, repetitive and uninspired, Blade’s Revenge wouldn’t be acceptable on PSOne and it shouldn’t be on PS2. Run away fast.” 2/10

PSOne Reviews

Matt Hoffman’s Pro BMX – “Not quite THPS2 quality, Activision’s foray into the world of two wheels is playable and very enduring.” 9/10

MTV Sports: TJ Lavin’s Ultimate BMX – “A woeful attempt at capturing the spirit of BMX, TJ Lavin feels as cheap as it looks. Flip to the Matt Hoffman review for how it should be done.” 3/10

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare – “The New Nightmare ironically suffers from a lack of originality and is not as eerie as Silent Hill but is still an immensely playable adventure in the familiar Resident Evil survival horror mould.” 8/10

Power Diggerz – “It’s chuckle factor ten in this bizarre and original oriental building site game that has you fulfilling all manner of strange tasks in your JCB.” 8/10

Hardcore

Part one of the MDK 2: Armageddon walkthrough, plus Rumble Racing, Crazy Taxi, Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Unreal Tournament and All Star Baseball 2002.

 

Disc Content

Playable Demos

Formula One 2001

Rugby

Wacky Races

Footage

Airblade

Onimusha Warlords

The Bouncer

Le Mans 24 Hours

ATV Offroad Fury

Dropship

Jak and Daxter (Interview with Jason Rubin)

World Rally Championship

Wipeout Fusion

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

Trivia

·         Between The Bouncer and Driving Emotion Type-S a few issues ago, Squaresoft would have done well to stick to what they did best. Luckily, they took that lesson to heart with their next major PS2 releases, Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts.

·         Speaking of which, Kingdom Hearts is another iconic PS2 franchise making its debut in this issue, following its announcement at E3 2001. It’s described as “ace” and “shaping up to be one of PS2’s biggest surprise smashes”. It’s definitely up there with Lego Star Wars in the latter regard, as both were considered to be such stupid ideas, they couldn’t possibly work at first, but then we played them and the rest is history.

·         After having been teased a few times since issue 3, Jak and Daxter finally make their proper debuts. At this point, they’re being lined up as the PS2’s potential mascots. Between Naughty Dog’s pedigree as the creators of Crash Bandicoot, the PSOne’s mascot, and a current lack of competition for the role, they’re the clear front-runners.

·         That’s still not all, as one-of-a-kind classic Ico and SOCOM US Navy Seals, the PS2's premier online shooter, complete the PS2 debuts. Between all that, and the online features mentioned in the Editor’s Letter, this issue’s certainly a significant one for PS2 history!

·         Whispers appear that Insomniac’s newest character is called JT Raccoon. I’m not sure if this is an early name for Ratchet, or the rumour mill got mixed up with Sly Cooper. What do you think?

·         Derek the fighting chimp and Jin’s secret twin sister Janice may be joke characters the magazine suggested for Tekken 4, but it says something about Tekken’s wackiness that they’re not entirely implausible. Derek the fighting chimp for Tekken 8! He could totally batter Heihachi!

·         Shouldn’t The Bouncer have been called The Bouncers, since there are three of them? I think I’ve already made this joke, but I don’t care since this is the last chance I’ll get to do it again anyway!
      This issue includes the best game advert yet, as Escape From Monkey Island is promoted with a cheeky spoof of the poster for Star Wars Episode 1.

Quote of the Month: “I’ve told you about pulling the bloody flush when I’m in the shower!” How to make that scene from Psycho lose its fear factor, just in case endless parodies, spoofs and references due to pop-cultural osmosis hadn’t already done that. Also, this is the second one of these in a row relating to toilets. Between this and the bidet from 30 Days in Tokyo, I think I have a problem...

Cover price: £4.99

Page Count: 146