Issue 28 (Christmas 2002)

                                                                Issue 28, Christmas 2002

Editor’s letter
       Last issue it was Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, this issue it’s The Getaway. The fact that these titles have ended up as the two biggest games of the year is testament to your insatiable lust for blood, violence and general unpleasantness. But forget cheap psychoanalysis, which one should you buy?
       This autumn has been tough for serious PS2 fans due to the sheer number of must-have games being released. You either live on beans for weeks or miss out on top quality gaming stimulation. But when it comes to Vice City and The Getaway, we can only suggest that you buy both. They can’t be compared in the same way as FIFA and Pro Evo because, although they share similar elements, they are markedly different experiences.
       Vice City is cleverly cartoonish; The Getaway is bleak, uncompromising, and completely engulfs you in its plot. There’s not the same freedom as in Vice City, but you’re propelled through the game with much greater urgency, developing empathy with the characters. The bloody finale will leave you drained. In short, even if you’ve got Vice City, you need to own The Getaway too. Merry Christmas, you muppets.
Sam Richards, Editor

Features
Vice City Slickers – The 25 things you must do while playing Vice City. Fly helicopters, wield the minigun, drive an ice cream van…

Jumping on the Brandwagon – Celebrities endorsing sports games is nothing new, but these ones are more out there. Tom Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, anyone?

Monthly Articles
The Money Shot – Each month’s greatest gaming moment immortalised in a photo or illustration. This month, visiting Buckingham Palace in The Getaway.

OPS2 Interview – Ted Price

To the Death – A bloody battle to prove what’s better. This month, Vice City VS The Getaway. The two are neck-and-neck, until The Getaway pulls off a surprise upset in the final round.

30 Days in Tokyo – This month, Final Fantasy X-2 is revealed, along with Yuna’s new hotter and sexier re-design.

The Big Issue – Answering a question that’s been on readers’ minds. This month’s question: Are PS2 games too expensive to make? It’s quite a shock to see the numbers being cited here as too big: 20 employees, £5 million budgets... Nowadays, that’s nothing, with budgets in the hundreds of millions and thousands of employees being the norm for AAA games.

Designer Genes – Readers write in with their game ideas and pitches. This month, Circus Freaks. A circus game where you can take part in every aspect of the show – lion tamer, clown, trapeze artist, you name it.

The Butcher – Tearing into gaming clichés. This month, Gran Turismo.

Mash-Up – Combining two games. This month, Alone in the Dark Summit. Zombies aren’t so scary when you can just snowboard past them!

Hideo Kojima at the Movies – The creator of Metal Gear gets his own monthly column celebrating the films that inspired his game. This month, Escape From New York. How this inspired Kojima should be obvious.

Buyers Guide – Listing a selection of PS2 games from each genre, tiered under Essential, Excellent, Good, Average and Poor, and providing a PSOne Alternative. This month, Racing games. Gran Turismo 3 and World Rally Championship 2 are Essential. Formula One 2002, Colin McRae Rally 3, World Rally Championship and Moto GP 2 are Excellent. TOCA Race Driver, Gran Turismo Concept and F1 2001 and 2002 are Good. V Rally 3, Le Mans 24 Hours and Stuntman are Average. Driving Emotion Type S, Super Trucks and Pro Rally 2002 are Poor, and Gran Turismo is the PSOne Alternative.

What If? – This month, what if the PS2 shopped for Christmas presents? I’ll have a Lucy model gamer, please.

Previews
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance – “Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance looks to have everything that makes for a classic next-gen update. It retains the styling that marked out its forerunners but has reinvented the fighting system.” Boiling

Primal – “Primal is another high production value game from SCEE’s internal developers, pushing the bounds of graphics and sound. The innovative buddy-style gameplay here looks very interesting.” Hot

SOCOM: US Navy SEALs – “SOCOM digests the depth of MGS2 and adds even greater freedom to experiment. All the things you imagine you should be able to do, you can and being in charge of a team makes it more engrossing.” Boiling

Devil May Cry 2 – “Devil May Cry 2 continues to look great. God only knows what we’ll be seeing in the final version. Bosses are big, ugly and hard-assed and each has its own fiendish attack.” Boiling

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon – “Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon may revitalise the tired adventure genre if it can deliver on the promise of mixing interactive, emotional storytelling with beautiful graphics and cinematic framing.” Hot

Sly Cooper – “It seems that we’re in a platform renaissance. More linear than the likes of Ratchet and Clank, this game feels and plays like the flipside of a hardboiled detective story.” Hot

The Sims – “The Sims is one of the most addictive games ever invented, and introducing two-player elements for PS2 is a great addition. Plus you can get yourself a monkey butler. Need we say more?” Hot

Ape Escape 2 – “Ape Escape 2 doesn’t just take the original concept to new heights, but it adds just enough zest to make it feel as refreshing to play as it did back on PSOne, and we’re loving every minute of it.” Hot

Updates for Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Bloodrayne, Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance, Wakeboarding Unleashed, Judge Dredd: Dredd VS Death, X-Men: Next Dimension, Defender, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven and Battle Engine Aquila.

Reviews
The Getaway – “A compelling trawl through London’s criminal underworld. The most cinematic experience yet on PS2 – a landmark title.” 9/10

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 – “Neversoft has delivered again with one of the most rewarding PS2 titles around. Not just a sequel – it feels like a new game.” 9/10

James Bond 007: Nightfire – “If the Bond movies seem rooted in 1967, the Bond games are stuck 30 years later. It’s progress, of a sort, but we want more.” 7/10

Auto Modellista – “Auto Modellista looks good, but the real bonus is how much fun it is to play. No online racing, but it’s great while it lasts.” 7/10

Virtua Tennis 2 – “This is one outstanding tennis game, and is one of Playstation 2’s essential multiplayer experiences.” 8/10

Reign of Fire – “A great idea that fleshes out the film’s anaemic plot, but is slightly restricted by its emphasis on vehicular battle.” 7/10

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter – “A Star Wars-themed 3D shooter with some optional bounty hunting. Good mindless fun, but it promised more.” 7/10

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – “Failing to capture any of the rich, creative landscape of the book, this game is fundamentally boring and a chore to play.” 4/10

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 – “Tiger 2003 is a great golf sim and is easily the best around, but can take itself just a little too seriously.” 8/10

Ghost Recon – “Despite its flaws, this is everything you’d want from a Clancy title: hectic, realistic action.” 7/10

Castleween – “Run-of-the-mill platformer. Nice in places, but doesn’t compare with better examples of the genre.” 4/10

Run Like Hell – “A valiant effort, but a game that feels two years out of date. There are much better survival horror titles on the market.” 5/10

Robotech: Battlecry – “Unless you’re a fan of the anime series, any enjoyment derived from this is very short-lived.” 4/10

Alpine Racer 3 – “There are so many hot winter sports sims out there. This fails to keep up with the competition.” 3/10

Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation VS Zeon – “Brainless but bombastic and absorbing fun – even if you’ve never heard of either Federation or Zeon.” 7/10

Sega Soccer Slam – “Remember Macedonia? This is ten times more painful to endure.” 2/10

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly – “Spyro was cute as a kid, but has turned into an ugly adult. What worked before is light years from what we demand now.” 6/10

Myst 3: Exile – “If this is the kind of game you really want to play, then a shopping trip to PC World is long overdue.” 3/10

Butt-Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom – “Deeply flawed compared to its rivals. A waste of a license that wasn’t that great in the first place.” 3/10

Pryzm Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn – “Love trolls and unicorns? Then stick with the miniature lead figures and percentile dice.” 2/10

Hardcore
A walkthrough for Timesplitters 2, plus Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Grand Theft Auto 3, James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Summoner 2, WWE Smackdown: Just Bring It!, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2, Red Faction 2 and This is Football 2003.

Disc Content
Playable Demos
The Getaway
Battle Engine Aquila
V Rally 3
Treasure Planet
MX Superfly

Footage
Defender
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
Big Mutha Truckers
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
Micro Machines

Trivia
* This issue has something fun for Christmas – a gaming themed snakes and ladders board!
* This issue has an excellent competition – players are tasked with creating their own levels in the Timesplitters 2 level creator, with the five winners being included on the demo disc. An ingenious method of distributing user-created content.
* The latest Tomb Raider delay is accompanied with the caption “Would you rather have a toss version now or an ace one later?” Why did we get the worst of both worlds? Nobody even think of citing that Miyamoto quote, I’m sick to death of hearing it and it’s no longer relevant!

* There’s an advert for Ty the Tasmanian Tiger which has Sonic, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot covered in bandages after an encounter with Ty. How did EA not get sued for this?
* The James Bond review predicts the future: “Rather than adapt one of the classic Sean Connery flicks…”
* Although Run Like Hell was reviewed in this issue, the UK release wouldn’t come for another year. Maybe the publisher decided a horror game wouldn’t sell at Christmas and delayed it until the following Halloween?
* Anyone holding their breath for Pryzm Chapter 2 should probably stop now.
* Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly gets 6/10, the same score as Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. Fair enough at first glance, since the central issue with both games is that they don’t advance their respective series and are simply more of the same. However, it’s awfully generous in Spyro’s case, as he gets a right kicking in the review. At least The Wrath of Cortex offered as much content as the older games and, dreadful loading times aside, worked as intended – which is more than you can say for Enter the Dragonfly.

Quote of the Month: “There’s something very wrong with that statement and it’s not just the fact that the Beatles were a bunch of gibberish-spouting, patchouli-sniffing hippies.” Not content with taking Gran Turismo down a notch, the Butcher takes aim at another sacred cow while he’s at it.

Cover price: £5.49
Page Count: 162