Issue 30 (February 2003)

                                                                 Issue 30, February 2003

Editor’s letter
       No, the tattoo’s not permanent, although Studio Cambridge did forward me a photo of the editor of Official Playstation 2 Magazine in Benelux who’d had the Primal symbol indelibly etched onto his back. This may have been an attempt to persuade me to follow suit, but I thought it was a bit beyond the call of duty. Yes, Primal’s a good game, but good enough to leave its mark on you forever? You’ll have to read our review and play our demo to make up your own mind. Anyway, I’m not too sure it would go with the tattoo of Ratchet and Clank on my arse…
       Many people are talking about Primal as a potential spoiler to Tomb Raider, and Jen’s certainly going to beat Lara to the stores. However, if you were almost ready to give up on ever being able to play The Angel of Darkness at all, we’ve got good news for you on page 34. Okay, so we didn’t get much of a chance to see Lara taking on enemies in full flow, but the action still looks spectacular, while Ms Croft herself is sleeker than ever. As The Getaway proved, just because a game is subject to delays doesn’t mean we should expect the worst. It’s conceivable that Core is taking the extra time to make the game even better. Let’s hope so.
Sam Richards, Editor

Features
Burning the Midnight Oil – Midnight Club 2

We Need a Hero – An election for the PS2’s new mascot. The candidates are Dante, Lara Croft, Ratchet and Clank, Rayman, Parappa the Rapper, Jak and Daxter, Tommy Vercetti, Mark Hammond from The Getaway, the Timesplitters monkey and Solid Snake. I’ll cast my vote for the monkey.

The Sound of Science – Music 3000.

Sound Affects – A how-to guide for installing surround sound, as well as the best systems to buy.

Monthly Articles
The Money Shot – Each month’s greatest gaming moment immortalised in a photo or illustration. This month, falling in love in The Sims.

OPS2 Interview – Chris Sorrell

From Zero to Hero – The minor characters of PS2 are given a day in the limelight. This month, Charlie Jolson from The Getaway goes straight and runs a meals on wheels business in The Great Pie ‘n’ Mash Caper.

To the Death – A bloody battle to prove what’s better. This month, Lara Croft VS Indiana Jones. Indy wins 4-2.

30 Days in Tokyo – This month, Kinji Fukasaku, the director of Battle Royale, films the cutscenes for Clock Tower 3.

The Big Issue – Answering a question that’s been on readers’ minds. This month’s question: Are games just for kids?

Designer Genes – Readers write in with their game ideas and pitches. This month, Ultimate Challenge. Form a team of ten players to climb a mountain and claim the prize belt.

The Butcher – Tearing into gaming clichés. This month, retro games. It’s funny when you consider that PS2 is retro by now.

Mash-Up – Combining two games. This month, Pac-Man World Championship Snooker 2002. A Pac-Man snooker game actually does sound quite fun!

Hideo Kojima at the Movies – The creator of Metal Gear gets his own monthly column celebrating the films that inspired his game. This month, Planet of the Apes.

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, Sports games. Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 are Essential. FIFA 2003, Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament, Madden NFL 2003 and Cricket 2002 are Excellent. NHL 2003, NBA Live 2003, LMA Manager 2003 and All Star Baseball 2003 are Good. ISS 2, G1 Jockey, Salt Lake 2002 and Sir Alex Ferguson’s Player Manager 2002 are Average. David Beckham Soccer, World League Soccer and the two Sven Goran Erikkson games are Poor, and Anna Kournikova’s Smash Court Tennis is the PSOne Alternative.

What If? – This month, what if game characters took out personal ads? Poor Agent 47 hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet…

Previews
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness – “Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is caught between two particularly knotty stools: do something totally new or please Tomb Raider fans. Currently, it’s erring on the side of familiar caution.” Boiling

Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance – “MGS 2 Substance is the definitive version of an exceptional game. The new missions and modes add welcome bulk to an experience that was previously a bit short-lived.” Boiling

True Crime: Streets of LA – “True Crime: Streets of LA would have been revolutionary this time last year. But coming after several similar games, its Hong Kong influence should make it stand out from the crowd.” Hot

Final Fantasy X 2 – “Final Fantasy X 2 introduces Yuna to guns and backflips. Has the FF universe gone crazy? We don’t think so. It’s about time Square revisited familiar faces and locations.” Warm

Die Hard Vendetta – “Die Hard Vendetta has a highly structured plot but, in a similar way to Deus Ex, gives players the freedom to make their own way through levels – so you get to think as well as shoot.” Hot

The Mark of Kri – “The Mark of Kri looks deceptively simple but after a brief try you’ll be mesmerised by its unique balance of story, gameplay and style. It’s gentle yet brutal. We hope the rest of the game is as engrossing.” Boiling

Splinter Cell – “Splinter Cell had us worried about how those fancy lighting effects and snazzy vision filters would look on PS2, but these first shots are very promising indeed.” Boiling

Pride FC – “Pride FC is looking great: a fight sim that blends wrestling and conventional fighting to create something new. It’s only the sport’s low profile that could handicap its success over here.” Hot

Updates for Devil May Cry 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, Battle Bots, Dark Angel, Silent Hill 3, Dr Muto and Evolution Skateboarding.

Reviews
Primal – “A finely crafted adventure which reveals its depths gradually, unfolding at a pace to suit even the most fantasy-challenged.” 8/10

The Sims – “Some of you won’t see what all the fuss is about. But The Sims is an innovative, engrossing and life-affirming game.” 8/10

SOS: The Final Escape – “Despite the lack of polish, SOS still shines and shows that there’s more to videogames than just shooting stuff.” 7/10

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – “One for the Star Wars collectors, and a great battlefield game in its own right. Shallow, but still worth investigation.” 6/10

Silent Scope 3 – “When arcade games were better than console games we were happy to have this. Now it’s just substandard.” 5/10

Contra: Shattered Soldier – “An ageing formula that was never going to compete with the big boys. Shattered Soldier is surviving on past glories.” 5/10

Wild Arms 3 – “Unless you enjoy really long films devoid of a plausible plot, we doubt you’ll go wild over this one.” 5/10

Hot Wheels Velocity X – “Velocity X is worth a punt, but only if you can pick it up cheap in the January sales.” 4/10

4X4 Evolution 2 – “Off-road racing that lacks va-va-voom. Plenty of features but thrills aren’t on the list.” 5/10

Legends of Wrestling 2 – “Nostalgia aside, there are better wrestling games out there. WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth puts this firmly in its place.” 6/10

Grand Prix Challenge – “GPC offers a huge variety of race and set-up options in a nice-looking package. Pity about the handling.” 6/10

Donald Duck PK – “Although initially promising, this quickly reveals itself to be the usual Disney crap.” 3/10

Master Rallye – “More rallying, with nothing to make it stand out from the massed ranks of the competition.” 4/10

The Simpsons Skateboarding – “A game that may lure in both Simpsons and skateboarding fans with its cartoon-coated ramp-jumping. Don’t be fooled.” 5/10

Go Go Golf – “That this game even exists shows how far PS2 has penetrated the non-gaming market.” 1/10

Tokyo Road Race – “Find the arcade game. Play it once. Save yourself £18.99.” 3/10

Hardcore
A walkthrough for The Getaway and the final part of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City walkthrough, plus 007 Nightfire, Haven: Call of the King, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and The Simpsons Skateboarding.

Disc Content
Playable Demos
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth
Primal
Sly Cooper
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003
Space Channel 5 2
NBA Live 2003
ATV 2 Quad Power Racing
Crashed
Ghost Recon

Footage
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Alpine Racer 3
Ape Escape 2
War of the Monsters
The Mark of Kri
LMA Manager 2003
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Judge Dredd: Dredd VS Death

Trivia
* New best game idea ever: Ozzy Osbourne riding a dragon in Savage Skies. Move over Brutal Legend, this is the most metal game ever… or it would have been, if Ozzy hadn’t dropped out pre-release, in which case the title goes to Dante’s Inferno. Brutal Legend tries too hard to be metal, which ironically costs it a few metal points. It’s still pretty metal, though.
* Speaking of which, I’ll never get an opportunity to bring it up otherwise, so I’ll do it now – If anyone from EA is reading this, please make Dante’s Inferno 2! You’ve got the market niche all to yourselves now that God of War wants to be taken seriously, and everyone else has shifted from ripping off God of War to ripping off Dark Souls.
* This issue includes an article on the Square Enix merger, which also announces a number of upcoming games including Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts 2, Dragon Quest VIII and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Presumably, Square wanted to restore investor confidence after the disastrous box office performance of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within almost sank the company.
* Battle Bots is the American equivalent of Robot Wars, and the game was cancelled despite being pretty much finished because the show was cancelled just before the game was meant to release. In fact, it was cancelled so late, that the Battle Bots website started selling prototype copies of the Gamecube version at extortionate prices until their stock ran out. I bet they haven’t got robots as hard as Sir Killalot.
* The Simpsons Skateboarding review dreads future games such as “God forbid, the inevitable Simpsons platformer…” No need to worry about that, the series got all the crappy platformers out of its system in the early 90s.
* This issue’s demo disc is rather special, because for the longest time, it was the only way to play Space Channel 5 2 after the UK release was cancelled at the last minute, due to the child molestation allegations against Michael Jackson picking up again around this time.
* The Mortal Kombat demo is also noteworthy, in that the fatalities have been disabled. At least there's no sweat this time.

Quote of the Month: “All this battling with ferocious man-eating monsters has taken a terrible toll on my GCSE results.” This constitutes exceptional circumstances to apply for resits, right?

Cover price: £5.49
Page Count: 146